— NTA has no record of kerb-side BRT schemes in other cities which use similar design.
— Design to be used on planned BRT bus / cycle projects on Fairview and Drumcondra routes.
National Transport Authority (NTA) officials have said they have no analysis of the safety impacts of putting priority on segregating buses from each other over the safety issue of segregating cycling from all buses.
The NTA were responding to a Freedom of Information request lodged by IrishCycle.com.
The plan is to have segregated bus stop bays for conventional buses to pull in and stop, out of the flow of bus lanes where BRT buses. But this will mean an increased level of conflict between conventional buses and bicycle users.
The design is planned on the Dublin City Centre to Clontarf Cycle Route, and on the City Centre to Swords route via Drumcondra.
Yeasterday, DublinInquirer.com reported how councillors are split on supporting the current design of the City Centre to Clontarf Cycle Route — the cycle route includes the experimental bus stop and cycling conflict ahead of the BRT route planned for roads and streets shared by both projects.
Overall the Freedom of Information request asked for the following:
- Any records sent or issued to councils or consultants covering the requirement and/or aim to segregate general buses stopping from BRT buses (ie having general buses in bus stop bays away from the flow of BRT buses
- Any records with analysis covering the question of bus priority over cycling safety — in other words, using a design which puts the priority issue of segregating buses from each other over the safety issue of segregating cycling from all buses.
- Any records with examples of any other kerb-side BRT schemes in other cities which use a similar design.
The National Transport Authority said:
The files released under FOI can be viewed here on Google Drive.
Bus stop designs
In the IrishCycle.com articles on the detailed design of the City Centre to Clontarf route this website looked at examples of where there are bus stop bays interrupting the cycle paths as so to keep bus lanes clearer. Here’s two of those examples:
KEY: Orange = cycle path, red = cycle lane, green = bus stop bay.
...That's the end of the article. Keep scrolling if you want to the comments, but IrishCycle.com *NEEDS* readers like you to keep it that way. It only requires a small percentage of readers to give a bit each month or every year to keep IrishCycle.com's journalism open to all. Thank you.
A good way to gauge cycle lanes is whether you would let kids on them unaccompanied. It could be interesting to hear the views of local parents in the Fairview area. Good piece.
They could switch the bus lane and car lane. Then make normal busses stop and maybe drive in the car lane, with a busstop bypass for cyclists.
This could work if the normal busses are not that frequent to not hold up traffic too much. It will also speed up normal busses since they create a gap in traffic infront of them.
For the BRT busses they could make a car lane + cycle track busstop bypass (a bit like tramstops in the middle of the road). With acces for pedestrians with a signal controlled crossing.