Our photo this week comes from guest contributor Chris:
“I just snapped a photo on the way home last night; I thought you might be interested in using it (it’s the Lincoln/Barrington/Whiteleigh intersection by the way):
“I thought it was interesting for the high number of cyclists, the inherent scariness of cycle lanes located between traffic lanes (note one person leaning on the stationary bus), and the unsafe situation that happened a few seconds after this when the light went green and the bus at the front tried to pull into the bus stop on the other side of the intersection. Half of the cyclists carried on through and the bus had to wait for them, while half of the cyclists stopped to let the bus in – it was all very confusing!”
While better than nothing, cycle lanes between busy traffic lanes are certainly a bit daunting for many people. And the common practice of placing bus stops immediately after an intersection is potentially problematic if there are good cycle numbers like in this picture. Perhaps we need a few more bus-bike interaction workshops again in the city?
Have others experienced this situation? Any ideas for resolving it?
There isn’t an easy solution, beyond being good road users with spatial awareness.
Note that sentence make no distinction between being a cyclist or the bus driver or a car drivers.
THREE OPTIONS:
1. Let the bus(es) and other vehicular traffic at the front go first, with their own unique signal. This minimizes risk of collision. OR
2. Let the bike(s) at the front go first, with their own unique signal. This also reduces risk of collision, but puts late-arriving cyclists at risk if they are wanton enough to run orange / red light. OR
3. Place bus stops before intersection, and install infrastructure that
A) allow bus drivers to request exit
B) controls other traffic smoothly to allow buses to exit.