Floating bus stops improving safety of Cambridge cyclists suggests report

I frequently commute down Hills Rd. Have the floating bus stops made things safer? Logically yes, because I'm further from the traffic. Can this report quantify that? No because it doesn't have a comparison/control.

With respect to pedestrians, most are fine, capable of treating the cycle lane like a small road, and most cyclists slow down adequately.

I have definitely encountered the odd idiot who stands in or blindly wanders across the lane. My impression (but it is only that) is that these tend to be the foreign students who are shipped in by 'language colleges' presumably with huge fees attached, and thus may be less attuned to British road environments (and normally very closely attuned to their smartphone screen).

From the cyclist's point of view, the more considerable issues are motorists turning across the cycle lane without due care or attention, delivery drivers who think it is a convenient parking area, and motorists who are too impatient to wait behind someone who is waiting to make a turning (and therefore use the cycle lane to cut round).

This article is in fact incorrect. Firstly the study did not look at interactions with motor vehicles but between cyclists and pedestrians at the bus stop/getting on and off buses. Secondly, and most imprtantly, the SUSTRANS study you refer to does not claim that these bus stops make it safer for cyclists. It studies 28h of CCTV footage and shows a low level of interaction between cyclists and pedestrians. It states clearly in the conclusion:

"It is unclear due to a lack of baseline data whether the new bus stops have increased or decreased interactions at these sites."

So it specifically says that it cannot say that the bus stops are safer than before they were installed. Additionally they highlight some causes for concern regarding pedestrians using the cycle lane to stand or walk in which is consistent with previous research looking at shared pathways where cycle lane and walkway are together. In these it is found that it is pedestrians that tend to walk on the cycle lane rather than cyclists going onto the walkway. This phenomena is influenced by traffic levels in each of the areas.

On the two stretches of road they studied in this SUSTRANS audit, only 2 incidents involving cyclists have been reported, on each stretch, to police in the last 5 years. So significant incidents were already rare. To prove that these bus stops make it safer for cyclists, a lot more than 28h of cctv footage would need to be analysed.

They seem pretty good so far, but time will tell if they're treated like all other cycling infrastructure in Cambridge and left to ruin, and never swept clean of debris.

I use the Hills Road as part of my commute, I think they are a great idea & so far I have no had any issues with pedestrians. You have to slow down if you happen to be behind another cyclist, as the lane narrows from a double width to a single but other than that the design appears to work well. Now to fix some of the other roads/junctions in the UK...!

The ones in Cambridge are considerably better designed than the ones on CS2 in east London- which aren't that bad themselves.

I'm surprised Sustrans didn't suggest putting 20 Chicanes on each cycle lane and resurfacing them in that material with all the properties of crushed glass that only they can supply.

They work well if they are designed well.  I ride through one which has car parking at the exit point, so while you can bypass a bus stop, you are likely to plow side on into a vehicle turning into the parking space.  Before the bypass, I could just ride round the parking vehicle.

This is really good news - not surprising, but good all the same. Anyone recall the councillor from Fulbourn and the 'kamikaze cyclists' claim? Here's the article:

http://road.cc/content/news/120222-cambridge-segregated-bike-lanes-postp...

All that 'concern' by John Williams (LibDem from Fulbourn) and David Jenkins (Histon) over what has turned out to be a non-issue! I cycle this route everyday and to date have encountered problems mainly with motor vehicles parked on the cycle lane (one of them actually reversed into two of us on cycles) and only one with a fellow cyclist who thought he could overtake exactly at the bus stop where the path narrows. 

Something to bear in mind is that the more common such things are and the more they are used, the better people use them. i.e. in this case pedestrians won't bimble aound on bike path as they tend to do near traditiona bustops.

Yes, but you can prove anything with facts.

No shit Sherlock