Transport for London (TfL) has published a Bus Safety Strategy. It has the overall purpose of setting out TfL’s priorities for the network to ensure that buses remain the safest mode of road-based travel, and sits alongside established Bus Safety Standard work.
The 80-page Strategy describes what operators and TfL are already doing to improve bus safety, and what more is needed to meet the Vision Zero goal of eliminating death and serious injury on the capital’s transport network. The latter includes specific action points.
TfL notes that its existing Bus Safety Programme is already delivering class-leading results in reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured while using the mode. Over 1,000 buses in London now satisfy Bus Safety Standard requirements, with additional improvements to the Standard due in 2024.
Specific action points set out in the Bus Safety Strategy include commitments to:
- Fit a further 1,800 buses with Intelligent Speed Assistance so that half of London’s buses are equipped with the technology by 2024, and the majority by 2030
- Commission further research into measures to avoid and mitigate risks posed by pedal application error
- Trial fatigue detection technologies on up to 450 buses over a 12-18 month period
- Implement a “strategic data-led approach” to examine changes that will reduce passenger injuries, particularly due to slips, trips and falls
- Work with the London Fire Brigade and others to identify new measures to tackle risks posed by bus fires
- Ensure safety improvements are inclusive for all using and working on the bus network.
Speaking about the Strategy, TfL Director of Buses Louise Cheeseman says: “Safety is our first consideration in all that we do to deliver bus services in London, and we are determined that it will continue to be at the heart of our transport network.
“This new Strategy is a vital part of our approach to systematically making transport safer for everyone. The measures outlined will be vital to achieving our Vision Zero goal of ensuring that nobody is killed or seriously injured on the transport network.”
The number of people killed in collisions involving London buses in 2022 reduced by 65% against TfL’s 2005-09 baseline, while the number of people serious injured was down by 54%. Both of those figures are significantly better than overall reductions on all transport modes on the capital’s roads.
Vision Zero calls for no deaths to be caused by bus collisions by 2030, and no serious injuries by 2041.
Download the Bus Safety Strategy document here.
