  Bus bunching is ostensibly regarded as a detrimental phenomenon in bus
systems. We study a bus loop with two bus stops, one regular and one spike bus
stop, where bunched buses can outperform staggered buses. The spike bus stop
models a bus stop connected to a train or metro service, where passengers
arrive in groups at periodic intervals (spikes). We introduce the configuration
of synchronised bunched buses, where bunched buses wait for the spike in
demand. For a wide range of parameters, synchronised bunched buses outperform
perfectly staggered buses in terms of minimising the waiting time of commuters.
We present an analytical formulation of the average waiting time in the case of
bunched buses, synchronised bunched buses and perfectly staggered buses with
the consideration of different passenger demand, number of buses, and bus
capacity. We demonstrate the validity of our analytical results through an
agent-based simulation of the bus loop system.
