Poor Route Coverage
A problem in many cities, particularly rapidly growing ones, is that bus services in some areas of the city are poor or even non-existent.

Route coverage may be measured in terms of the percentage of urban area within 500 meters of a bus stop.

Poor route coverage may be due to inefficient route planning, to a failure on the part of the bus operators to expand as the city grows, or to the lack of a proper secondary road system, which confines buses to major roads only.

Inappropriate operating structures or company size may be significant: where there are many small operators, particularly where regulation of services is weak, they are unlikely to have the expertise to take advantage of new commercial opportunities presented by new developments in the city. Large operators are more likely to be aware of such opportunities but in some cases are prevented by lack of resources from expanding in line with demand.