Two-thirds of London's controversial 'floating' bus stops found to have design issues (2024)

Two-thirds of all ‘floating’ bus stops on London’s cycle network feature design issues, a new TfL report has found.

The review, published on Wednesday, was commissioned by Sadiq Khan following repeated safety concerns raised by the public, particularly blind and elderly people.

The report has found four pedestrians were injured at the controversial stops between 2020 and 2022.

It also found 56 of the 164 stops - 34 per cent - have “significant” design issues, such as no zebra crossings, incorrect tactile paving, a missing shelter, or a bus island that is too narrow. A further 32 per cent have “minor” design issues.

The ‘floating’ stops - known officially as bus stop bypasses - feature a cycle lane that runs between the bus stop and the pavement.

Of the 164 in London, 87 are on TfL’s road network, and 77 are on borough roads.

They are primarily aimed at preventingcyclistsbeing put in danger by getting stuck behind stationary buses and having to pull out into moving traffic.

But there are widespread concerns the design creates a major hazard to pedestrians, who must cross the cycle paths to get to and from buses.

TfL’s report has found that between 2020 and 2022, four people were hit by cyclists while doing this.

Two of the incidents were described as “serious”.

One saw a cyclist on an electric bike in Marble Arch crash into a person crossing the cycle lane, leaving them with a head injury.

In the second, on the A11 at Bow Church, a person boarding a bus stepped into the cycle lane and collided with a cyclist, falling and sustaining a head injury.

TfL said neither of these bus stops complied with its guidance for bus stop bypasses, while none of the stops where crashes happened appeared to have zebra crossings.

TfL also observed video at eight bus stop bypass sites, and found “a significant proportion of cyclists” did not give way to pedestrians at the zebra crossings as they should.

But it argued crashes at bus stop bypasses represent “0.6 per cent of a total of 623 pedestrian casualties involving collisions with cyclists during the three-year period, and 0.03 per cent of all 12,069 pedestrian road casualties during thistime”.

“Every casualty on London’s streets is unacceptable and needs to be prevented,” it said.

“However, the chance of being injured by someone cycling at a bus stop bypass is very low compared to the chance of being injured by a driver on the wider network.

“There were more than 11,400 pedestrian casualties resulting from collisions with motor vehicles and more than 15,000 cycle casualties resulting from collisions with vehicles in the same period.”

TfL acknowledged the concerns raised by disabled people, particularly blind and visually impaired people.

Following its report, TfL says it plans to boost safety by working with boroughs to update non-compliant bus stop bypasses, some of which were built before TfL published design guidance in 2018.

It is also planning a “high-visibility education campaign” in partnership with the Met, to ensure cyclists know how to behave at bus stop bypasses.

It is also planning to explore “innovative” trials such as new crossing technology for visually impaired people.

On Wednesday, the National Federation of the Blind UK (NFBUK) handed a petition, signed by 275 charities and organisations representing disabled and vulnerable people, to the Department for Transport calling for the stops to be scrapped.

“We are asking you to urgently introduce a moratorium on all floating bus stops and shared use bus boarder stops, which are causing discrimination against blind, visually impaired disabled and older people who now cannot board the bus in safety or independently,” said the petition.

It marked the fifth time NFBUK has petitioned the Government on the matter, and came after footage filmed by the charity showed a pedestrian trying to access a ‘floating’ bus stop being struck by a cyclist.

The “elderly” person was struck by the cyclist as they tried to reach the stop by St Thomas’ Hospital, near Westminster Bridge. The incident came this month, outside the time frame surveyed in TfL’s survey.

The footage also showed a number of other cyclists nearly missing pedestrians at the stop.

Christina Calderato, TfL's Director of Transport Strategy and Policy, said: “Keeping everyone travelling in the capital safe is our top priority and we’re determined to make the network as inclusive as possible, which is why we have carried out an extensive review of safety at busstopbypasses,” she said.

“There is clear evidence from the report that the likelihood of a pedestrian being injured by a cyclist at a bypassis very low. Our analysis also suggests that busstopbypasses have not led to a reduction in busstopuse by older or disabled customers.

“Any moratorium on busstopbypasses would put at risk the programme of work we are undertaking to improve cycle safety in London and encourage more people to cycle.

“We will continue to work with disabled people and accessibility groups to reflect on the findings of our review, including looking at design improvements and upgrades where necessary, and will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure that our transport network works for everyone.”ADfTspokesperson said:“While TfL are responsible for these schemes in London, we expect local authorities to engage with disability groups and follow our guidance which clearly sets out that all infrastructure designs should be accessible for everyone.”