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This message pertains to the use of “floating bus stops.” First, here’s a definition, and I promise, neither the buses, nor the stops are actually floating.

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A Floating Bus Stop is a concrete island located in the middle of a street, where buses can pick up, and drop off, passengers. They are typically used in very highly congested areas, where a bus may not be able to easily pull to the curb and then pull back into traffic. They are also often used in areas where the community wants to establish a dedicated lane for cyclists. Usually, it goes like this. Next to the curb is a lane that might serve as a parking lane, or an area where bikes are permitted, but no traffic. Beyond that lane is this so-called Floating Bus Stop. This means that if you want to catch a bus at this particular stop, you have to either be able to see the floating bus stop, or know where it is. Once you reach the area near the floating bus stop, you then have to cross this lane (which might have cars and/or bicyclists, at which point, you would then be at the floating bus stop. And when you get off the bus at one of these stops, the process works in reverse. You get off the bus, cross the traffic/parking/bike lane, and then step onto the sidewalk and into safety. Floating islands are not in every community, but they are becoming more popular as the amount of traffic congestion and bicycle traffic increases.

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Now here is the message Sue wanted me to share. It’s from Beezy Bentson, who is an expert in the areas of Orientation and Mobility, and pedestrian accessibility.

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Many safety concerns confront bus riders who must cross the bike lanes to and? from the island bus stops.

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Under grant funding provided by the National Academy of Science, the Transportation Research Board (TRB) ?has awarded a two-year study entitled” Floating Bus Stops and People with Visual Disabilities.” Although the first year of the 2-year study is in process Beezy Bentsen, a principle investigator for this research study, and ?a universally acknowledged expert in the field of pedestrian safety for people who are blind, and a certified orientation and mobility specialist (COMS),sent a video showing cyclists are not yielding when a yellow beacon flashes at a crosswalk between the sidewalk and bus stop. She advises,

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“Until there’s a solution that can be confirmed, buses should pull up to the curb.”

Call to Action – How You Can Help

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We need to raise the awareness of traffic engineers and urban planners around the current dangers of floating bus stops. Please contact your community’s Traffic Department or Division, and your community’s transit agency, and share your concerns. Put simply, and based on current research, floating bus stops are not safe, because cyclists do not yield, and this places both cyclists and pedestrians, and especially blind, visually impaired, and older people, at risk of serious injury or worse. Floating bus stops should not be used until and unless safety concerns are addressed.

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Here’s a described video illustrating that cyclists often do not yield for blind pedestrians, which is precisely why floating bus stops are not safe. Check it out, and feel free to share with anyone you reach out to on this subject.

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