Christchurch had a very successful workshop on Thursday October 21, 2010.
Bus Bike Workshop powerpoint presentation: photo of 1st slide
Media coverage we got post the workshop is this short 2 minute clip that may be useful to run during a workshop, when planning the workshop for ideas, or even to sell the workshop to potential participants (Regional Councils, Bus Companies etc).
http://www.ctv.co.nz/videopop.php?vid=1276034052&url=http://www.ctv.co.nz
(Look out for the shot nearer the end of the clip of the two red buses with bike racks, one bus crossing in front of the other - in fact all the buses from the three bus companies in CHCH were shown with bike racks. But also note one shot of the cyclist in the bus lane that becomes outside bus priority hours a very large cycle lane)
We based our workshop on the resources CAN had created for generic workshops to use with bus drivers, truck drivers, taxis etc
http://can.org.nz/being-cycle-aware
We want to share some of the resources created for and used at the Christchurch Bus Bike workshop with other groups, to help other workshops run more smoothly and perhaps save time too.
I highly recommend doing these workshops. It was one of the best I have attended. It helps with the understanding between different road users. I feel differently about buses now. The bus drivers when they came back from their ride were glowing, like they had seen the light.
If only we could get people on their bikes we could probably win the dollars to support good cycling infrastructure and facilities through sheer demand. It might take years off the advocacy road to get more people cycling more often.
One of the important aspects of the workshop was to buddy up a person who drives a bus with a person who cycles. The buddies stay together for the whole workshop, including riding on bikes as pairs and sitting together on the bus out to the venue to look at bus manoeuvres. A number of bus drivers expressed admiration for the cycling skills & knowledge of their cyclist buddies.
The Christchurch workshop included letting cyclists play with bike racks. Other places are looking to get bike racks too. We learnt you need to take opportunities like this to let cyclists play with bike racks so they feel confident to use them when the bus comes.
Attachments of Crash System Analysis (CAS) data (good to get for your area to show local cyclist bus crash issues) show the bus-bike crash data for CHCH (14 reported crashes over 5 years) and generic Bike Crash data for NZ and a 4 city comparison
Christchurch Bus versus Cyclist (2004-2009, all urban)
-Injury crashes: 11 (1 serious); non-injury crashes: 3
-12 at intersections; 2 at mid block
-13 in dry (1 in wet)
-Crash factors for injury crashes: 64% failed giveway/stop; 9% overtaking, 18% incorrect lane position
-73% poor observation; 9% poor judgment (i.e. 82% poor observation/judgment)
We learnt bus drivers have issues with bus lanes too e.g. the parking at the ends of bus stops can really impact on driver's getting easily in to park (ie bus parks being too small). And bus Drivers, like cyclists prefer the wider 4.2m bus bike lanes to the 3.0m shared bus bike lanes.
Some Bus Drivers' comments about things they learnt at the workshop:
"That on your bike you are at the mercy of the traffic"
"Respect of the person I cycled with for their knowledge & skills"
"How difficult it is to negotiate in heavy traffic"
"Appreciation of each other"
"Never thought about the "woosh" factor before"
Some Cyclists comments about things they learnt at the workshop:
"Liasing with bus drivers-hearing things from their perspective"
"How to put bike on bus-visability, blind spots etc"
"Sitting in the drivers seat of the bus & seeing what the mirrors see and the black spots"
"Both groups agree on problems with parking and cars in bus/cycle lanes"
"Buddying as can discuss issues and learn in a non-confrontational way"
Glen Koorey was an excellent faciliator. He scribed or designed the attached resources. Glen is currently Deputy Chair of CAN Committee.
Feel free to contact him if you have any queries. glen@can.org.nz
