(16 Mar 2014, 4:23 pm)Dan wrote Why can't you? Late running buses is not an 'occasional' thing, it's a daily occurrence. Buses using the wrong stands is a daily occurrence (I'd go as far to suggest it happens every hour each day) - again, this could be prevented by operators choosing which stands to have buses serve on the basis of when they're actually going to be there, but it's a problem nevertheless.
The design of the perfect bus station would factor the daily issues into plans - things like the issue with the blockage of the entrance/exit owing to an accident is going to be factored into the decision less because that truly is an occasional thing.
Granted, this will inflict a greater cost - but you'd be providing minimal disruption to customers and hopefully things would operate with greater ease. As a customer, I hate it when my bus driver can't get to the right stand and I have to panic that the driver isn't actually going to stop to let me on when he does eventually get to my stand as he expected me to walk over to the bus itself.

Yes, I hate the in/out door system at Middlesbrough too. As an occasional visitor, I've never understood it. I hate that I'm forced to use specified entrances/exits - I'd prefer to navigate around the station at my own will, providing it is safe to do so.

Using Middlesbrough (and Stagecoach again, will use Arriva again), stand allocations refer to where the bus is going (Stagecoach's 11/12 go off the same stand as they both go a similar route as far as the A174 Parkway and both serve the Parkway Centre, likewise the 36/37/38 use the same stand as they are a combined service, Arriva have now done the same by moving the peak time Ingleby Barwick/Kingsmead express to stand 12 with the 17/17a/17b as they are a group of services and to avoid confusing people from those areas that they get their off-peak bus off one stand and the peak express from a completely different one).

Like I said above, it's actually quite rare for a bus to use the 'wrong' stand in Middlesbrough as they normally go into the layover bays to wait until their stand is free. Of course, at present we have a service going off the wrong stand as its normal stand is still under repair but that should be resolved shortly then likelihood is the Park End stand will be taken out of use to fix the door on there.