Bendy Bus Safety

Our opponents have called into question the safety of 60-foot articulated buses, otherwise known across the Pond as "bendy buses".  They are claiming that articulated buses are unsafe, and are being removed from service all around the world.

Problem is, not only are they safe, but they are being added into service all around the world!  In the US alone, in the past year, ten or more new BRT lines, most of them using 60-foot articulated buses, have come on-line.  If there's a safety problem here, why are more being added?  Because, there is no safety problem!

The only issue we can find, according to Wikipedia, is that articulated buses were removed from service in London, England a couple of years ago.  This may have been more political than due to a quantified safety problem, because the mayor got elected with removing these buses being part of his platform:  "... these safety statistics may be partly skewed due to the buses having been used on the busiest routes in the most crowded areas of the city, so making them look worse than the buses they were being compared with".  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Articulated_bus.

They also pulled up some photos of articulated buses being stuck in major snowstorms.  Well, aren't we all?  Remember the five-hour commutes being reported in Portland a couple of years ago with the surprise blizzard that hit the region?  It wasn't just buses that were caught.

We've conducted our own research and can find nothing that indicates articulated buses are any more hazardous than fixed-route, 40-foot-type coaches which C-TRAN currently operates on Fourth Plain and other routes. 

We used Google searches for these keywords in our research: “Bus Rapid Transit” “Articulated Buses” “Safety” “Research” along with a separate search for “articulated buses” “known safety issues”.  

The reports we read are cited below, along with weblinks, if you want to take the time to do your own research:

·        “Design Treatments for Bicycles and Buses on Arterial and Collector Roads”, Stephanie McNeely and Garrett Donaher.  http://www.ite.org/annualmeeting/compendium10/pdf/AB10H3103.pdf.

·        “Bicycle/Bus Conflict Area Study”, Gregory R. Krykewycz, PP, AICP.  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/conferences/2010/NATMEC/Krykewycz.pdf and ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_PDF_FILES/Documents/Research/Complete%20Projects/Reducing%20Fatalities/Bicycle%20Bus%20Area%20Conflict%20Study.pdf.

·        Tri-Met: “Sharing the Road Safely: Important safety reminders for cyclists”, http://trimet.org/howtoride/bikes/safetytips.htm.

·        FHWA Course on Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation”.  http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/univcourse/pdf/swless124.pdf.

·        “FHWA-RD-99–034: A Comparative Analysis of Bicycle Lanes Versus Wide Curb Lanes: Final Report”, William W. Hunter, J. Richard Stewart, Jane C. Stutts, Herman H. Huang, and Wayne E. Pein.  http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/safety/pedbike/99034/99034.pdf.

·        “APTA BTS-BRT-RP-002-10, Bus Rapid Transit Stations and Stops”. http://www.aptastandards.com/Portals/0/Bus_Published/002_RP_BRT_Stations.pdf.

·        “Safety of Pedestrians and Cyclists in Urban Areas”, European Transport Safety Council.  http://www.etsc.eu/oldsite/pedestrian.pdf.

·        “Evaluation Of Alternative Pedestrian Traffic Control Devices”, Katharine Hunter-Zaworski, P.E, Ph.D. and Jon Mueller. http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TP_RES/docs/Reports/2012/SPR721pedreport.pdf?ga=t.

·        “TCRP Report 118: Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner’s Guide”.  http://www.community-wealth.org/_pdfs/tools/tod/tool-tcrp-bus-rapid-transit.pdf.