Green politician stops on ‘floating’ bus after crash video

A Green Party politician has backed so-called “floating bus stops” days after a video was released showing a cyclist colliding with a pedestrian near one in south London.

Caroline Russell, a member of the London Assembly, said some cyclists were “inconsiderate” but the “overwhelming” evidence showed that the design feature, where a cycle lane is laid between a bus stop and the pavement, reduced the number of people killed and seriously injured. , as it separates cyclists from buses at the point where they must enter.

The National Federation of the Blind UK (NFBUK) posted a clip on May 5 showing a cyclist running over a person at a floating bus stop outside St Thomas’ Hospital on Westminster Bridge Road.

The charity believes the design feature, also known as bus stop bypassing, is unsafe and wants it banned. But Ms Russell, the Greens leader at City Hall, said the number of people killed and seriously injured by cyclists was a “tiny fraction” of those killed and injured by motorists.

Speaking at Newham Town Hall on Monday (May 13), she said: “Overwhelmingly, people understand that all the evidence shows that floating bus stops reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured. That is without a doubt. But we also need to hear when blind people say “I find this design very confusing. I find it really worrying. I find it stressful’.

“We also have to recognize that there are people who ride bikes who are inconsiderate. There are also people who drive cars that are incredibly careless and it is the inconsiderate ones in cars that overwhelmingly kill and injure, seriously injure, the people who walk and bike in this city.”

Ms Russell said measures such as tactile (raised) paving, clear pedestrian crossings and different colored tarmac at floating bus stops could make them safer, as well as announcements on buses reminding people when a detour is coming up. bus stations.

She added: “It’s all about avoiding going into the battle lines, looking at the evidence and making sure you listen to people and especially the most vulnerable in that transport hierarchy, which (includes) a blind person walking on foot”.

Last week, The Guardian revealed that Transport Secretary Mark Harper was considering a ban on floating bus stations. Transport for London (TfL) has previously said that bus stop bypasses are a recognized way across the UK of reducing the danger to cyclists by preventing them from having to go around buses and into oncoming traffic.

Among the most recent locations in London where they have been installed is Lower Road, Canada Water, where road improvements have been made alongside the ongoing construction of tower blocks and retail units as part of Canada Water’s Masterplan. A floating bus station has been installed near the Seven Islands Leisure Centre.