Crossing the Road after Disembarking from the Bus (2)

Leading on from the previous video, this has been filmed on a busy road outside a school. As it shows in the video the road is extremely busy and there are cars parked up along the roadside beside the bus stop. For small Children this could potentially be very dangerous as they may be smaller than the height of the car, making it very difficult for road used to see them. It also takes a while before there is a safe point to cross, meaning inpatient children may rush without thinking.

Crossing the Road after Disembarking from the Bus

Crossing the road after getting off a bus can sometimes be very difficult, especially for children and the elderly. There are good and bad crossings near and around bus stops. This video bellow shows a very difficult bus stop to reach. It is on a duel carriageway, with no crossings nearby. The duel carriage is a main road and can become extremely busy at peak times. This bus stop should really be re positioned as it is a safety hazard. In the video it take approximately 1 minute for the passenger to cross the road after getting off the bus, if you think this could be a school child, and school children are not wanting to wait about, they will try and dash across the road as soon as the can, this could result in a serious accident or could even be fatal.

Bus Blind Spots

At a visit to the First Bus Depot on King Street we met with to bus drivers, one who is an experienced bus driving instructor. After briefing them with the project they have one extremely important piece of information which you only realise in the Driver’s seat, so we found out for ourselves.
Blind spots are a major issue for a bus driver. Think of the blind spots while driving a car, but with a look over your shoulder they can be checked. However in a bus this is imposable. Looking over your shoulder you are met with a panel of the bus, there is no glass window. This means there is a huge blind spot out both sides of the bus. Bellow is an image showing the scale of the blind spot.


Another major blind spot in busses are directly in front of the bus. With a gap that would easily fit a child. The blind spot is increased even more in a coach. Further still at the rear of busses, bus drivers are completely none the wiser what is going on because they can’t see anything.



As accidents are occurring when children are running out in front and behind busses could something be done to stop this, using the spaces in the blind spots and stopping children from walking and running there?

Bad Rural Bus Stop

The above image shows what the average bus stop looks like in rural areas. Most bus stops are on busy roads where the speed limit can reach 60-70mph. This image was taken on a 40mph stretch of road. As you can see there are no points to cross the road and nothing to channel the flow of passengers as they leave the bus. It is also a very busy road with large commercial vehicles using the road. There is nothing to prevent traffic from speeding past the bus while it is stopped, and also there are also driveways situated near the bus stop.

Good Rural Bus Stop

The above image shows one of the safer rural bus stops. I feel it’s safer because of it features. It has an island in the middle of the road, which will help the passengers cross the road after departing the bus. It also will prevent traffic from driving past the bus when it is stopped, cars tend to speed up to get past busses, and this is sometimes the cause of accidents. Finally the island slows down the traffic, preventing traffic from driving at excessive speeds around bus stops.

Rural Bus Stops

Rural bus stops are very different to the bus stops I looked at in the city centre. They come in many different forms, from just having a small bus stop sign, to having an island in the middle of the road to allow easy crossing. Below are just a handful of the different types of bus stops in more rural areas.

No crossing, next to junction, lorries on road.
40mph zone, large vehicles on road, no crossing.
Island for crossing, multiple driveways close by.
Bus stop painted on ground, 40mph zone, no crossing available.

Bus Stopping - Union Street

Looking at the brief a major point of the project is getting on and off the bus. Staying with Union Street for the moment this video shows how bus shelters on Union Street work as a barrier between the road and the passengers when they are queuing. If you look at where the bus stops, the bus and the shelter merge into one object, stopping passengers form wandering onto the road. It also stops passengers from walking out in front of the bus after departing the bus.



This works very well in a city context, where there are many busses and the stops are used frequently. It only works though if the bus drives all use the same method. When the street becomes busy this is sometimes very hard, busses stopping at the other side of the shelter, or a little further along the street.