Continuous footways and bus stop bypasses are of particular concern to people with reduced mobility and vision. Living Streets and Transport for All in the UK ran a two year project on the issues. The research uncovered the issues and found ways to improve the impact of these features on streetscape accessibility. Streets for people with disability means safer and better streets for all pedestrians.
The first stage of the project involved interviewing representatives from organisations representing disability and cycling.
Image from NSW Government Movement and Place website. It shows a continuous footpath.
Bus stop bypasses (or floating bus stops) involve a cycle track being placed between a footpath and an island with a bus stop. Bus passengers must cross the cycle track to access the bus stop. Continuous footways are described as an uninterrupted footway that extends across a side road. Usually the footway is raised to the same level as the footpath.
Continuous footways may be unsafe for people who are blind or partially sighted due to the lack of tactile paving. They may also be at risk when crossing cycle tracks to reach a bus stop as they don’t always hear cyclists coming. The noise of busy roads also makes the sound difficult to detect.
People with mobility issues need more time to cross the cycle track. This can put them at risk if cyclists do not allow them to pass. Also, wheelchair users have to navigate narrow islands to get on and off a bus.
Not safe? Find another route
People who are blind or have low vision usually get the expertise of a mobility trainer to help them navigate their local environment. Mobility trainers find different ways to ensure their clients are as safe as possible. Interestingly, all mobility trainers in the study teach their clients to indent into side roads because it gives them more time and a quieter space to hear what is coming.
Mobility trainers considered cycle tracks at bus stop bypasses generally risky and potentially they would teach a different route with a controlled crossing.
Potential solutions?
The study involved site visits with observations by people with disability. The key issues were raised in the discussions following the site visits. For the bus stops, descriptive markings for pedestrians to look both ways on two-way cycle paths would make them safer. Bus stop islands need more circulation space for wheelchairs and mobility scooters.
General lighting at bus stop bypasses should be improved, and that lighting should be used to indicate the presence of zebra crossings. Further solutions included adding rumble strips on cycle lanes, introducing speed bumps to slow down cyclists, and signage to indicate the presence of a cycle path.
For continuous footways, there should be steep ramps at continuous footways to ensure that cars slow down for pedestrians. It was also mentioned that there should be tactile paving at continuous footways to inform blind and partially sighted people of the potential presence of cars.
High contrast paving to alert people who have low vision was another suggestion. Also, implementing road markings to alert drivers to slow down, and improving the condition of pavements.
Would the solutions work?
While some solutions were feasible, they might not have the desired effect, or might have an adverse effect. For example, high contrast between the footpath and the continuous footway is feasible, but might lead to people driving over it as though they have priority. Other solutions will depend on maintenance, such as painted ground markings which have a maintenance cost. Indeed, this is a complex space to work in, and each design is context specific.
The main Living Streets webpage on inclusive design provides an overview of the whole project which was divided into two parts: bus stops and footways.
Transport for All: Living Streets Project Written Summary is the 6th appendix of a larger document containing Appendices 2-6 to the main report.
The title of the main report is, Inclusive design at bus stops with cycle tracks. A separate document has an appendix on Inclusive design at continuous footways.
The Austroads Guide to Traffic Management Part 8: Local Street Management (page 117) is the Australian reference for continuous footways.