blunderbus
blunderbus is a colloquial term used in transportation and administrative contexts to describe a vehicle or system that repeatedly fails to meet operational standards, often resulting in delays, misroute or service outages. The expression combines the word blunder, meaning a serious mistake, with the concept of a bus that is meant to serve many passengers efficiently.
The first recorded use of blunderbus appears in a 1979 transportation policy report issued by the City
In literature and satire, blunderbus serves as a metaphor for systemic incompetence. The phrase features in
Cultural references to blunderbus have grown over the years, illustrating how a single incident can shape collective
Related concepts include “concrete bus,” referring to multilevel metaphorical failures, and “misdelivery,” an acute form of