Route/Service Denotation

[jasmine]

why is it that some extensions like the 97A, 20A and 6A are denoted with an A suffix but others like the great barr 16 and dudley 74 merry hill x21 arent?

[Jack]

why is it that some extensions like the 97A, 20A and 6A are denoted with an A suffix but others like the great barr 16 and dudley 74 merry hill x21 arent?

A stands for Additional.

Reason being the 16 and 74 are serving the full route. And there's the 16A as well.

[jasmine]

A stands for Additional.

Reason being the 16 and 74 are serving the full route. And there's the 16A as well.

so if thats the case why arent the Hamstead, West Bromwich and Bartley Green buses given the A suffix, the 16A was also numbered 16W in the past so thats not really an answer.

[Jack]

so if thats the case why arent the Hamstead, West Bromwich and Bartley Green buses given the A suffix, the 16A was also numbered 16W in the past so thats not really an answer.

The 16 to Scott Arms follows the same route as the 16 to Hamstead, then the 16 turns off and the 16A turns off in a different direction. If they go a different direction to each other then that equates for the A. The 16 to Hamstead is a timetabled short journey and follows the same route so there's not much reason for that. WB 54 and 54A exist because they don't follow each other and different routes to each other. The 74 to West Brom doesn't need to be an A when it follows the same route as the 74 to Dudley.

The A has always stood for additional. The E is exception as a untimetabled. short journey for example.

[jasmine]

youre ignoring the fact that the 97a, 20a and 6a that i mentioned before also follow the same route but are still given suffixes, if the suffixes were to go by your logic, these shouldnt exist. but they do. thats what im asking 

[MasterPlan]

A stands for Additional.

Reason being the 16 and 74 are serving the full route. And there's the 16A as well.

I always guessed that it stood for alternative or alternate.

As for the initial question, if it was 21 I think 21A would've been used, but X21A is a bit much... imagine hearing that over and over on the NSA!

[Sh4318]

youre ignoring the fact that the 97a, 20a and 6a that i mentioned before also follow the same route but are still given suffixes, if the suffixes were to go by your logic, these shouldnt exist. but they do. thats what im asking

The 97 and 97A follow the same route to a point. With the 97 terminating on Coleshill Heath Road and the A continuing to the business park. Honestly, in this case, it's sometimes better to give the extension of the route a separate number or a suffix to differentiate between the two, it's a lot easier for the passenger

97 Chelmsley Wood
and
97A Birmingham Airport and NEC

are easier to read and instantly understand compared to

97 Chelmsley Wood
and
97 Birmingham Airport and NEC

The best way to think of the A suffix is as an alteration of the original route, there are different examples of course.

The most common uses of the A suffix is when the A route serves most of the original route apart from a particular section of the original route, for example 12 and 12A follow most of the same route, but the 12A serves Tower Road and other parts of Oakham

The A suffix is also used for two routes that follow the same section and then diverge to reach their terminus, the best example of this is the 13 and 13A, both serve the same route between Birmingham and Warley, but the 13 turns right at the George and continues to Langley and Oldbury, whereas the 13A turns left and serves Brandhall and Blackheath

Then you have the A route that diverges at a certain point of the main route to terminate somewhere close by, like the 20A, which leaves the 20 in Longbridge, the 20A goes to Cofton Hackett to terminate, and the 20 goes all the way to Bromsgrove

Hopefully that helps

[Sh4318]

I always guessed that it stood for alternative or alternate.

As for the initial question, if it was 21 I think 21A would've been used, but X21A is a bit much... imagine hearing that over and over on the NSA!

I always thought with routes like that - where occasionally, the route extends beyond its usual terminus, it makes sense to have both the usual terminus and extended terminus clearly displayed, in this example (just, y'know, with better formatting  ):


X21 Bartley Green
                    then
      Merry Hill

[mesub]

I always thought with routes like that - where occasionally, the route extends beyond its usual terminus, it makes sense to have both the usual terminus and extended terminus clearly displayed, in this example (just, y'know, with better formatting  ):


X21 Bartley Green
                    then
      Merry Hill

Something similar to the X12, when it was at AG?

(Airport then city)?

Obviously there weren't any variations for the X12.

[MasterPlan]

I always thought with routes like that - where occasionally, the route extends beyond its usual terminus, it makes sense to have both the usual terminus and extended terminus clearly displayed, in this example (just, y'know, with better formatting  ):


X21 Bartley Green
                    then
      Merry Hill

Nah I didn't like the look of that when it was used on the X12.

On that note though Bartley Green isn't listed as a via point on the Merry Hill display, which it should be.

[jasmine]

97 Chelmsley Wood

and
97A Birmingham Airport and NEC

are easier to read and instantly understand compared to
97 Chelmsley Wood

and
97 Birmingham Airport and NEC

I also think that the A suffix should be used in this case, It's just that I really don't understand why the 16, 74 and X21 for example, don't. when it fits the proposed criteria to constitute for an A suffix.

Because every time I board a 16 to Great Barr, I hear elderly people discuss with other passengers on it, where this bus goes to exactly, I think it would just be incredibly easier for everyone for at least the 16 to go back to what it was a few years ago, with it being.

Hamstead  16
Great Barr  16A
West Bromwich  16W

But now it's just way more confusing for the layman. I can't understand why the Great Barr and Hamstead 16's have nothing to differentiate themselves when they go to different places like the 97/97A, 20/20A and 6/6A do.

Hamstead  16
Great Barr  16
West Bromwich  16A

I really just cannot see how it's better this way.

Another thing is that sometimes the 16 to Great Barr DOES have an A suffix, I have photographic evidence of this with metadata showing its recent. It just makes it 100x even more confusing because now there's:

Hamstead  16
Great Barr   16
Great Barr   16A
West Bromwich    16A

It would save everyone the headache if it was how it was a few years ago like I already said. I really can't see why the naming ever changed when there was no good reason to. The W in 16W was as clear as day in showing that it went to West Bromwich.

"16A to Great Barr" 1

"16A to Great Barr" 2

For even more confusion, sometimes the electric Diamond buses DO display 16W instead of 16A, I recall having photographic evidence of this too but I cannot find it.

It's like the damn displays yearn to be what they once were but someone is just forcing them not to be. This also makes for FIVE different ways I've seen this stupid route being displayed on a bus

Hamstead  16
Great Barr   16
Great Barr   16A
West Bromwich   16A
West Bromwich   16