I've been taking the bus a lot lately and for the most part each stop is uneventful.
The bus pulls over, some people board and some people depart.
But at the major stops where there will be 3 rows of buses, 3 or 4 buses long, things change.
People no longer have one bus to watch for and they don't leave a side walk and get straight on their bus (or leave the bus and step directly onto a sidewalk).
To board at these major stops, people find their bus and sometimes move across two lanes of buses. Departing involves stepping off the bus and potentially into the lane of an incoming bus.
The number of times I've seen people 'almost' get hit is staggering. I say almost because the bus drivers are obviously aware of this issue and are on high alert, turning a potentially dangerous situation into more of a frustration for the drivers - they professional drivers and it shows.
With people solely focused on catching their bus, so much so they can't see the other traffic, it's a wonder no one has been hurt.
So why the lack of situational awareness?
I have a few theories:
Group Think - once one person goes everyone follows. I once saw 4 people walk in front of a moving bus and board an incorrect bus and only realized their mistake when the 5th friend called out to them. As the departed they were laughing saying, "I was just following you", "well I was just following you."
False Sense of Security - no one has been hit before, buses are big and 'easily' seen and moving slow. The problem here is that people don't 'see' any other bus but their own, and we know from high school physics that force equals mass times acceleration. When the mass we are referring to is around 26,000 pounds, the acceleration doesn't really matter for a bus on human collision.
Deferred Responsibility - this essentially translates into a dangerous game of chicken, with the bus goer believing the bus driver will stop for them, and the bus driver doing their best to see people from all directions.
Cause and Effect - the consequences of missing the bus could mean a lengthy wait for the next one. If getting to work or an appointment on time relies on catching this bus, that is what people will focus on. Additionally, these stops are often the busiest and finding a seat is not always possible. If you want to guarantee yourself a seat then you better get in quickly (and unfortunately it no longer seems common practice for able bodied individuals to hand their seats over to the elderly or differently abled).
Culture - when I first starting taking the bus and came to one of these major stops, it struck me as strange that people would be in such a hurry to get on or get off given buses are often waiting at the stops for 5 minutes or more. It was quickly evident that this was how it was done.
Transfer of learned behaviour - at every other stop, people are accustomed to boarding and departing the bus as quickly as possible to keep the buses on schedule and get to where it is they are going; it is natural to continue with this same behaviour.
In actual fact, the reason this happens is likely a combination of factors and are different for each person; but the outcome will be the same for anyone who plays chicken with a bus.