Let?s talk a little about buses and pedestrians.
The location of bus stops has a big impact on how pedestrians cross streets. How many times have you seen someone running across the street midblock trying to catch a bus that?s pulled up to a marked spot smack-dab in the middle of the block? At some point, some person in the planning department apparently thought this was a good idea.
The problem is that they did so without really thinking about the impact it might have on the people actually trying to catch that bus. The location of bus stops forces some people to take risks. Do you really think a person is going to go to a crosswalk a hundred yards away if the bus is pulling to the stop in the middle of the block? Of course not ? but that?s what happens every day, and that?s one of the reasons why there are so many pedestrians getting hit on our roads.
So, what?s the solution?
Some people suggest that bus stops should be located only where there are clearly defined areas for potential passengers to get to them. More often than not, this is going to be an intersection where much of the pedestrian infrastructure is already in place. This includes not just the lights that control the flow of vehicles, but also the lines on the road that clearly mark where a person is supposed to walk.
For some reason, most of the bus stops at intersections are set up just before the intersection, and in many instances that creates its own set of problems.
Cars trying to turn right at the intersection just beyond where the bus has stopped will go around the bus and then make their right turn. The problem is that the people getting off the bus will frequently walk in front of the bus as they go on their way, or they will cross the opposing street while they have the green light. The drivers of the cars trying to turn right can?t see them and, well, you can imagine the rest of that story.
What if the bus stops were located on the far side of the intersection? This would give drivers a much clearer view of what was in front of them. It also would allow pedestrians to cross the street with the full intersection in their view. It would eliminate the problem of people walking off the buses and then walking in front of the bus. Yet very few cities set up their bus stops in this manner.
The only problems that I can see with this arrangement are that it might create queues behind the stopped buses that would block the flow of vehicular traffic through the intersection, and it would create problems with traffic on the opposing street making a right turn onto the street behind the bus.
Regardless, it seems worth a delay or two to create a safer environment for those getting to and from bus stops.
It?s time to rethink some of the old ways of doing things and to put the safety of pedestrians first.
Before you argue that pedestrians create many of their own safety problems by walking into traffic and challenging cars with their right of way, think about the reasons why these things happen. In too many cases, it?s because of the way things have been designed.
Questions, comments, random musings? Write to [email protected].
