What are the Alternatives to Bus Stop Bypasses

It’s always easy to criticise something, but it is usually much harder to suggest a better alternative. Perhaps this is why none of those who have been criticising and complaining about bus stop bypasses have suggested a better alternative as yet. Indeed, a very cycnical person might be inclined to think that those who are leading the criticism of bus stop bypasses are more interested in preventing people from having access to cheap and sustainable alternatives to driving for short local journeys than they are about the safety of bus passengers and pedestrians.

We have mentioned before the poor standard of provision for cycling in Lancaster, and that there probably isn’t a single inch of cycle route near a road that meets current guidelines. That doesn’t mean that Lancaster doesn’t have off-road cycling provision going past bus stops though, even though absolutely nobody is complaining about them.

So what it is that’s so much better about bus stops on shared use pavements than properly made cycle tracks that bypass bus stops? Certainly the three examples we found in Lancaster all have potential for conflict between people riding bikes and waiting for busses, or trying to get on and off them.

The only other alternative that we’ve seen, and is probably even more prevalent in Lancaster, is where there is a dashed pained line by the gutter that enables local politicians to claim “Look, we’ve done something for cyclists, aren’t we environmentally friendly.” However, if you look at how well this has worked out for Lancaster, with rapidly diminishing levels of cycling in the city centre it’s hard not to conclude that all this paint in the road only works as a deterrent to using a bike rather than a car for short local journeys.

Ultimately it’s a question of whether we want people to feel that they have more transport options to choose from or not. If virtually everybody has no option but to drive it only makes driving even more inconvenient for those that really need to.