Jay (love the last name), Thank you for creating a dialogue about this. What I have found is that almost exclusively the bus drivers have been courteous to me when I bike, and I feel mostly allied with them. That said, in the 19 years that I have been cycling around Madison, I have had a few scary experiences being buzzed by a metro bus. I think that in a couple of the cases the bus driver was unaware of how close they came to me, but one time in particular (at least 10 years ago) I was cycling in the bike lane on Park Street and was basically run up onto the sidewalk. My terror (I really thought I was done for) turned immediately to fury, and when the bus was stopped at the next red light I biked around to in front of the driver's side to give the driver a piece of my mind. The driver just closed their window and wouldn't look at me. I wasn't collected enough to gather any identifying information.
When I bike around town, I try pretty hard to imagine being in the drivers' shoes- for my own safety. This helps me to anticipate odd or aggressive car maneuvers and to ride more defensively, particularly at rush hour, poorly marked intersections, at dusk, and around buses. Driving a vehicle as large as a metro bus on streets that are sometimes narrowed by parked cars or snowbanks, on a schedule, full of people who are trusting you with their lives is a large responsibility; I know that the bus drivers already have to contend with a lot of aggressive auto drivers and unpredictable cyclists every day- the same ones that we all contend with as well. By the time that I am the bike that they are dealing with, I don't know where their frustration level is, so I play it safe. That doesn't mean that I don't still take a lane if I need to, but I accompany it with the "thanks wave". I have decided that if I am coinciding with a bus going in my direction when I bike on the 700-1200 blocks of Jenifer Street, which is both a bike arterial and heavy bus route, I just slow down my pace and let them lead. This obviates the chance of forcing the bus driver to play leap frog with me. This is different from my approach on State Street or the Capitol Square, where I get out in front of the bus and can maintain my distance from them because of the way the intersections are controlled. I would guess that cycists and bus drivers probably have a similar gripe about sharing a lane (e.g. E. Wash, the Capitol Square inner loop, State Street, etc). While this works well for the most part, because only a bike or a bus is present, when both types of vehicles are there it can set up a frightful dynamic- with the speed and size differential being so large, and the bus driver and cyclist each assuming that THEY own the lane. Best practices for Metro drivers sounds like a good place to head if there aren't ones already in place, because the behavior of the buses is not consistent- which really means that the behavior of the bus drivers also isn't consistent. Obviously the drivers, like the rest of us, have good days and bad days, days where the cyclists and cars behave around them and days where they don't, days when the passengers use up every ounce of patience that the driver has. So it would be nice if the driver isn't left to have to make a brand new judgment call every time that they encounter a biker. I like Kathryn's idea of bus drivers being required to bike next to a bus as part of their training. It's probably hard to imagine how scary it can really feel to have a bus come too close to you or go by you too fast while you are biking without actually experiencing it. -India On Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 9:37 PM, Jay Ferm <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi folks, > > I figured I'd share my report of a Metro bus buzzing incident and Metro's > response. Aside from contaminating my name, I am satisfied enough with the > response, such as it is. But the incident got me wondering... > > What is the view among bicyclists of how Metro bus drivers interact with > bicyclists in general? I would like to hear from the list if you feel there > are issues regarding how Metro drivers interact with bicyclists. > > Have any LCIs, transportation or family cyclists from the bicycling > community reviewed Metro's training protocol regarding bicyclists? It might > be interesting to assess their training against best practices. > > (I have cc:ed Chris Olson, a Metro General Operations Supervisor. If you > have anything to report, please cc: him, too.) > > Thanks, > Jay Ferm > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Olson, Chris <[email protected]> > Date: Wed, Aug 3, 2011 at 10:13 AM > Subject: Your Feedback Received on 8/2/2011 - #31933 > To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > > Mr. Germ > > I reviewed the video from bus 947 to investigate your safety concern. It > showed you making a left turn and the bus moving over to the right to go > around you and your children. The video recorded the bus going the posted > speed limited. I did talk to the driver and felt he should've slowed his bus > when approaching bicyclist from behind. I truly believe you and your > children were not in danger from the driver's maneuver to pass you. I > apologize if this incident made you feel threatened by our bus. We do take > safety very seriously at Metro and continue to train our driver's with > refresher training every year. We also use the video as a tool to show > drivers how to handle situations on the road and change driving habits. If > you've any questions please feel free to contact me. > > Chris Olson > Metro transit > General Operations Supervisor > 608-267-8762 > colson@cityof madison.com > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Your Feedback: > Dear Metro, > > I write to tell you of a dangerous driving on Sunday, July 31 involving a > Metro bus. My family were riding our bikes on the eastside. I was pulling a > bike trailer with our two toddlers. We had turned right from Ivy St. onto S. > Fair Oaks Ave. northbound. Preparing to turn left onto Thorp St. we > positioned ourselves in the left lane and signaled our turn. As we waited > for southbound traffic to pass I noted a Metro bus approaching us from the > south. As the bus approached it did not slow down to a safe passing speed. > With oncoming traffic and the load of the trailer and kids I could not get > out of the bus' way. It passed us going much too fast and much too close. I > sensed, but cannot confirm (since my attention was split between front and > back), that the driver swerved the bus around us. It was not clear to me > that we were safe and that the driver was aware of our presence prior to > passing. > > I am very angry about what happened. The driver put me and my children at > risk. > > The number on the bus was 947 and it occurred at about 5:38pm. > > I would like to...request the incident be investigated. > > Best, > Jay Ferm > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > >
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