http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: "Lothian Bus drivers sent on training course to better understand cyclists" en Tue, 19 May 2026 03:26:43 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711&page=2#post-361465 Thu, 16 Jun 2022 11:49:47 +0000 ejstubbs 361465@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Should be fairly simple, no? Look at the onboard camera from each bus until they find the one with no other bus in front of it... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711&page=2#post-361462 Thu, 16 Jun 2022 11:37:05 +0000 chdot 361462@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Good</p> <p>They will probably know what order the buses were in at the lights. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711&page=2#post-361461 Thu, 16 Jun 2022 11:31:26 +0000 Murun Buchstansangur 361461@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>There were several LB buses in the queue of traffic so I suspect it would be difficult to identify the correct one from time alone without the reg.</p> <p>Given it has happened many times, I doubt it's down to one rogue driver and more a reversion to poor LB driving behaviours. If I make myself enough of a nuisance to them along with footage, perhaps something will change. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711&page=2#post-361460 Thu, 16 Jun 2022 11:19:37 +0000 chdot 361460@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>If you give EXACT times they OUGHT to be willing/able to look at on-board cameras’ recordings. </p> <p>You can of course request the footage… </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711&page=2#post-361458 Thu, 16 Jun 2022 11:11:58 +0000 Murun Buchstansangur 361458@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Lothian bus drivers are occupying the ASL almost every day I arrive at the northbound George IV Bridge junction with the Royal Mile. Given the scaffolding at the hotel on the corner, filtering is on the outside and sometimes it's almost impossible to get back inside the traffic island/light post given the &lt;rule 2&gt;'s positioning (which may be deliberate). No fewer than 5 cyclists had to take up suboptimal/borderline dangerous positions because of one particularly egregious example today. I've complained to LB today but dubious that will sort it. May refit camera to get some footage. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711&page=2#post-291559 Tue, 18 Sep 2018 23:07:31 +0000 Kenny 291559@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@condor - will do. Tbh though it is not dangerous driving, more just “did you really need to overtake to then immediately stop at the bus stop and force me out of the bus lane” type thing. Just feel it didn’t used to happen. But will report if danger ensues. </p> <p>@crowriver - interesting. NEPN really seems super busy some days, but maybe I am exaggerating it in my head. I certainly don’t feel isolated in the roads as I did say 8 years ago, but maybe I’m just more confident now? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711&page=2#post-291329 Mon, 17 Sep 2018 11:46:32 +0000 crowriver 291329@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@Kenny, it may well be that numbers on the NEPN are up now that folk actually know it's there: it used to be almost a secret.....however the Spokes count and the DoT counts together show a much more modest increase. In particular, the DoT counts show an increase of maybe 17% over 17 years. That's certainly significant, but given the time period involved shows a gentle evolution rather than a sudden mass of riders taking the streets by storm. The DoT counts also seem to show a decrease in cyclist numbers on the roads since a high in 2013, which correlates with reports elsewhere of an increase in people driving the past few years: maybe commuters switching back to cars? Or it could just be lack of monitoring on Leith Street while it was closed...</p> <p>It will be interesting to see what impact the bike hire scheme makes: this could well lead to a critical mass effect on the roads, especially in the high tourist season. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711&page=2#post-291321 Mon, 17 Sep 2018 11:20:52 +0000 condor2378 291321@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@kenny, I sent your comment to a friend in LB at and they asked that any examples be sent to the company as they take it <u>very </u>seriously, as it helps ensure that drivers are getting the correct training, particularly as they are aware that the number of cyclist and vehicle numbers are increasing.</p> <p>I agree that LB are miles better than Firstbus. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711&page=2#post-291293 Mon, 17 Sep 2018 06:50:25 +0000 Kenny 291293@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>In terms of higher numbers of cyclists, this is based on the number I see commuting on a daily basis. Especially on the NEPN, it feels like there are double the cyclists to a year or two ago, and the same when getting to traffic lights. </p> <p>I’ll continue to monitor the bus situation. Good shout re: students and festival; maybe that has clouded things. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711&page=2#post-291290 Sun, 16 Sep 2018 23:19:43 +0000 crowriver 291290@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"Are cyclist numbers really increasing? "</p> <p>The Spokes counts seem to show there are more cyclists - at least at peak travel times - but that *that* many more over the past 12 years. Basically, there were quite a few anyway...</p> <p>That tallies with my own anecdata, which feels to me like the streets are a bit busier with cyclists, but I think calling it "critical mass" is maybe a tad hyperbolic. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711&page=2#post-291267 Sun, 16 Sep 2018 14:51:58 +0000 gkgk 291267@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Maybe they're more stressed with the festival crowds and now the new students. I suspect any tonal change you spot over such a short period must be seasonal or you-not-them. </p> <p>Are cyclist numbers really increasing? I worry that's just a self-congratulatory greenwash noise the council makes. Had a quick google - the limited council/spokes data suggests no change since 2000, I think. Maybe there's other data that shows a big uplift beyond those countpoints.</p> <p><a href="https://www.dft.gov.uk/traffic-counts/area.php?region=Scotland&amp;la=City+of+Edinburgh">https://www.dft.gov.uk/traffic-counts/area.php?region=Scotland&amp;la=City+of+Edinburgh</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.spokes.org.uk/documents/papers-documents/spokes-traffic-counts/">http://www.spokes.org.uk/documents/papers-documents/spokes-traffic-counts/</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711&page=2#post-291263 Sun, 16 Sep 2018 13:16:36 +0000 Kenny 291263@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Lately, I feel I have noticed a marked change in the driving style of Lothian Buses drivers. If I were to think back a year or so, I could not have been happier with the way they drove - they were respectful of cyclists 99% of the time (we all have a bad day, after all), they would wait behind if close to a bus stop rather than cutting you off, they would pass with plenty of room etc.</p> <p>It seems to have changed. Don't get me wrong, it's still approximately 857 times better than First Bus, but the best way I can describe it is that the bus drivers are no longer my friend, and have degraded to what I'd describe as "just another driver who finds cyclists irritating".</p> <p>My pondering has left me wondering why. I wonder if there are now _so many_ cyclists these days, they are getting very frustrated? There's certainly a lot more slower cyclists, I guess due to there now being enough of a critical mass of cyclists that more people feel confident enough to give it a try, and of course they will be slower or less experienced, and goodness knows how we're not allowed to hold up the people who own the roads, the drivers.</p> <p>Anyway, ramble over. Just thought I'd ask if anyone else had similar thoughts. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711&page=2#post-284520 Mon, 11 Jun 2018 16:34:35 +0000 paulmilne 284520@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>The few times I find myself westbound on West Maitland Street, I get off and push the bike to Haymarket junction, and remount by the station. The official route has an annoying and anxiety provoking mid-carriageway cycle lane, and the green tarmac means you have to cycle in close proximity to the tram lines - neither option is an attractive prospect. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711&page=2#post-284514 Mon, 11 Jun 2018 16:08:28 +0000 dougal 284514@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>An interesting one, I assume like me most cyclists would just follow the green tarmac. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711&page=2#post-284473 Mon, 11 Jun 2018 10:49:41 +0000 piosad 284473@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Good example of one that didn't, this morning at Potterrow, an old lady making steady progress on a Brompton up the slope through the roadworks, with a number 2 bus right on her back wheel, revving and clearly very impatient to overtake. Have tweeted LB. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711&page=2#post-284424 Sat, 09 Jun 2018 21:15:00 +0000 chdot 284424@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>“I did get the impression that LB drivers "tolerate" cyclists more than I'd realised”</p> <p>Yeah, but the problem is the ones that don’t.</p> <p>(Other bus company’s drivers are definitely <em>not</em> as good!) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711&page=2#post-284422 Sat, 09 Jun 2018 19:37:00 +0000 Frenchy 284422@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@Kenny - yeah, cycling west on that bit of West Maitland Street's definitely banned. This annoys me as I think it's safer than the detour, but the council does not agree. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711&page=2#post-284419 Sat, 09 Jun 2018 19:06:18 +0000 Kenny 284419@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Was chatting to a LB driver yesterday while on a training course (unrelated to either bus driving or cycle riding). He was telling me the one main cycling-related thing that LB drivers rant about back at "the depot" was the West Maitland Street stretch heading west, which bicycles are not allowed to go on, but buses are. I had to admit I'd never been 100% sure that bicycles are not allowed on it, but I have almost always avoided it and gone the Diane's Pool Hall route instead when heading back to Corstorphine as I suspected we were not.</p> <p>Can't deny that I did get the impression that LB drivers "tolerate" cyclists more than I'd realised... I thought they had more respect but alas it seems it's possibly all just a facade (possibly only in my mind). </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711&page=2#post-284370 Fri, 08 Jun 2018 13:13:42 +0000 PS 284370@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I hope they're updating the report to take into account the need for bus drivers to consider where bike lanes are before opening the doors for passengers. I've heard reports of buses on Leith Walk pulling up behind another bus occupying the stop and opening their doors, leading to passengers spilling out onto the segregated cycle path (ie, where it's near the kerb before it goes round the back of the bus stop). One of the first passengers off was a child in a pushchair blindly pushed into the path of a cyclist who thankfully was alert enough to grab their brakes... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711#post-284357 Fri, 08 Jun 2018 10:54:18 +0000 Frenchy 284357@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Had forgotten about this. I hope they're including this in the refresher courses that they send drivers on following complaints of substandard driving.</p> <p>I've become convinced in the last year or two that LB's drivers' reputation as being excellent isn't particularly deserved, to be honest. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711#post-284356 Fri, 08 Jun 2018 10:45:56 +0000 Stickman 284356@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Someone posted this on the work intranet cycling page:</p> <p><em>Last night I was delighted to see a large group of cyclists, all wearing Lothian Bus Hi Vis vests returning from a cycle to understand what it feels like to be on a bike in traffic. Some looked terrified but it looks like a great initiative to get greater understanding from both sides. Would be fab if this was rolled out to other bus companies, haulage companies and made compulsory for van drivers and even included in the basic driving test! It's all about education and experience to ALL road users.<br /> </em> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711#post-279566 Thu, 05 Apr 2018 16:42:47 +0000 gembo 279566@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Drop a stitch, add a stitch, knit one, pearl one </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711#post-279559 Thu, 05 Apr 2018 14:04:08 +0000 unhurt 279559@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>That depends what it's knitted out of... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711#post-279558 Thu, 05 Apr 2018 14:01:01 +0000 I were right about that saddle 279558@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I am initiated. I can do point de riz and point de mousse. Who'd like a scarf full of holes in ten years time? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711#post-279556 Thu, 05 Apr 2018 13:51:50 +0000 gembo 279556@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Make!Craft Britain episode 3 is knitting, for the uninitiated. Using humungous needles </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711#post-279554 Thu, 05 Apr 2018 13:36:52 +0000 unhurt 279554@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>...i think I know knitters in Orkney who have watched that very film (jumper, not Deeps) (I would probably watch Deeps though?) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711#post-279552 Thu, 05 Apr 2018 13:06:49 +0000 I were right about that saddle 279552@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@unhurt</p> <p>That film would be called Deeps. Filmed in the slow Nordic style, like that four hour film of a jumper getting knitted. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711#post-279550 Thu, 05 Apr 2018 12:58:38 +0000 neddie 279550@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>if the government could just regulate to mandate the fitting of these gizmos to all motor vehicles</em></p> <p>...and mandatory black boxes</p> <p>All tech that is available today. No need to wait decades for the self-driving nonsense to mature </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711#post-279546 Thu, 05 Apr 2018 12:51:32 +0000 ARobComp 279546@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@Unhurt - UnSpeed </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18711#post-279545 Thu, 05 Apr 2018 12:48:31 +0000 crowriver 279545@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@jonty, now if the government could just regulate to mandate the fitting of these gizmos to all motor vehicles, we'd all be a LOT safer. </p>