Why are buses late even when you’re at the first stop?

Also, on some routes in different parts of the country, a bus may do multiple routes. So while there may not be roadworks delaying your specific route, the bus may be coming from elsewhere that does have roadworks. For example, in Mansfield, Notts, there's a bus that goes from Mansfield up to Sutton in Ashfield. But Mansfield is the middle waypoint. The bus goes from Sutton to Mansfield then on to Mansfield Woodhouse, then back to Mansfield and then back to Sutton. So anyone wanting to go from Mansfield to Sutton comes up to complain about it being late. You try to tell them that there's roadworks causing delays. And they stand there arguing that there's no roadworks between Mansfield and Sutton and the bus shouldn't be late. But there's roadworks in Woodhouse. Similar with the 23 to Langwith and 12 to Shirebrook. Roadworks in one place can also cause issues due to the driver of one of those buses going over their driving hours due to delays, and needing to take their break before going out on a completely different run. For example, a driver who has done 2 trips to Nottingham and back gets stuck in roadworks which puts them over their hours. But their next run goes to Edwinstowe. Now that Edwinstowe bus is late because the driver is on a break. This is legally required and the bus company cannot force the driver to go back out on the road. Most of these delays are ultimately caused by bus companies running on minimal buses and staff numbers to cut costs.