Video of ‘dangerous’ London bus stop shows cyclist 'colliding with pedestrian'

A video has shown a cyclist seemingly colliding with a pedestrian at a 'dangerous' London bus stop. The charity National Federation of the Blind UK (NFBUK) says it had been filming a 'chaotic downright dangerous' situation at the Westminster Bridge 'floating' bus stop outside St. Thomas' Hospital.

The organisation posted a clip, which, it says, includes a 'speeding cyclist crashing into an elderly person'. It added on X that the floating bus stop design - which includes a protected cycle track alongside the bus route that ensures passengers alight from a bus directly onto a bus stop island and never directly onto a cycle track or road with oncoming traffic - is 'not safe'.

The group also called for the stops to be 'urgently halted'. The type of stop is also known as a 'bypass'.

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Helen Cansick, TfL's Head of Healthy Streets Investment, said: “Keeping everyone travelling in the capital safe is our top priority and the needs of blind and partially sighted people are always taken into consideration when designing cycle lanes. Bus stop bypasses and shared use bus borders are a nationally recognised approach for avoiding the dangers of cyclists going around buses into oncoming traffic.

"TfL and the London Boroughs, like many cities across the country, have integrated this approach into the cycleway programme and there has been a dramatic increase in number of people cycling in the city. We have met with the NFBUK to discuss this, and other such facilities, and are conducting a review of safety at these facilities.

"We welcome all feedback on our cycle routes and will continue to work with disabled people and accessibility groups, taking people’s concerns into account to ensure that changes to our roads work for everyone.”

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan's office was also contacted for comment.

How many 'floating' bus stops are there?

In an answer to a question from Conservative London Assembly Member, Nick Rogers, who has since left the body, Mr Khan, stated that, as of March 15, 164 bus stop bypasses had been identified on the TfL Road Network (TLRN) and Cycleways network in London. Of these, 87 bus stop bypasses are on the TLRN and 77 are on borough roads.

The following table shows how many in each of the 32 boroughs and whether they are on TfL or borough roads.

The stop outside St. Thomas' Hospital was included in a list about which complaints have been sent to TfL's Customer Services team. This includes sites that were highlighted in a petition sent to Mr Khan in 2022 by the NFBUK.

Mr Khan also said in March: "TfL has received valuable feedback from key accessibility and active travel stakeholders on bus stop bypasses and has actively sought their input over a number of years, which has been used to make improvements to the design and information and education initiatives."

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