Where the Bus Stops

The bus stops in Beijing are massive, complicated examples of traffic management. Most of the stops I've seen in are 4-7 buses long and service up to 10 different lines. With any one bus line coming at 2-5 minute intervals, it's often a zoo of buses lined up at a bus stop.
If a bus driver comes upon an empty bus terminal, he (almost always a he) will pull up as far as possible to leave space for the buses behind him to enter the stop. This inevitably leads to a mass of people running to catch up with their bus at the far end of the stop. Each subsequent bus then pulls into the station and parks just inches behind the bus in front (I guess this maximizes space usage). The theory here is that the bus in front will pull away before the buses behind it are ready to pull away; they have been there longer, after all.
All in all, the system seems to work quite well and I haven't seen any people yet crushed between buses or hit by buses speeding into stops. The bus drivers seem to be very alert and are constantly scanning their mirrors while driving. But... what happens when the bus in front doesn't pull away? If it's just a matter of a dawdling bus driver, the other bus drivers are not at all shy about laying on the horn. In fact, they only wait a few seconds before hitting their horn (no camraderie is lost on them). To find out what happens if something goes truly wrong, you'll have to read the next post.