If you’re a regular
commuter/biker/walker/general patron of downtown Seattle, you may have seen the
green and white banners on the sides of buses encouraging you to “be
predictable” in order to safely share the road. The ads, which have been running
on the sides of 30 buses running throughout the central business district since
May, are part of a larger Share the Road campaign created by a new Bicycle/Bus
Education & Safety Team and sponsored by King County Metro, Cascade Bicycle
Club, and the Bicycle Alliance of Washington.
The goal is obvious: to
enhance road safety and to depict bikers and Metro drivers as equal inhabitants
of the same city streets. Through a Share the Road philosophy, King County
Metro hopes to encourage patience, cooperation, and safe sharing of the roadway
– and looking out for each other as a matter of course.
The campaign also features
updated videos and web content on the Metro website,
quarterly safety events at the bus bases, and increased instructional bus bike
rack displays throughout King County – including an instructional bike rack at
our office in Pioneer Square.
The Bicycle/Bus Education
and Safety Team members include Eileen Kadesh and Ref Lindmark of Metro Market
Development, Chief of Central Base Margo Minnix, Transit Safety Officer Dan
Nuner, Dan Porter of Metro Training, John Mauro from Cascade Bicycle Club, and
our very own Barbara Culp. They are hoping to start another round of ads next
spring, possibly featuring a revamped message.
Thanks to Scott Chilberg for submitting this post.
Thanks to Scott Chilberg for submitting this post.
Hard to see how this is going to work, unless the police start issuing tickets for traffic law breakers.
ReplyDeleteI try and be a predictable rider, but what about the buses? What are the policies and training of the bus drivers regarding bikes?
ReplyDeleteI've slowed when I bus signaled to let off a passenger, but then the bus stopped in the lane (expecting me to blow by on the right? no way I want to be squished by a many ton bus.) A stand off ensued. A better sign on the bus would be one that informed riders what bus behavior to expect.