Don't leave time points (major stops) ahead of schedule. In addition to making people miss the bus, running early is a major contributor to bunching on frequent routes. Example: Bus A is a few minutes late so it picks up some of the people who would have caught Bus B; then Bus B is early so it picks up fewer people and easily catches up to Bus A; then Bus C has even more passengers; and it continues. Between Bus B and Bus C there is a very long wait. The exception is when nobody is allowed to board the bus at that stop, such as drop-off-only stops (express routes) or if the bus has no more room.