New-style zebra crossings helping people navigate the urban jungle
Have you ever heard of a ‘floating bus stop’? Would you recognise one in your neighbourhood?
If you’ve never come across this term, they are not bus stops in the sky but ones where bus stops interact with cycle routes – where, in order to access the bus or the bus stop, a pedestrian must cross a cycle track or a shared-use path.
In recent months both Active Travel England and the Welsh Government have consulted the public on how to improve the design of ‘floating bus stops’ – including bus stop bypasses (see image below).
These adaptations to bus stops are becoming more necessary as councils build high-quality cycle tracks separated from traffic, which are often located along existing bus routes, for example, following arterial routes into towns and cities.
Standardising designs and increasing safety
It’s fantastic to see more councils building new cycle routes which are physically separated from traffic in urban areas. We know that this type of cycling infrastructure increases safety and attracts people to use it because they don’t have to contend with vehicles.
However, one consequence of providing safe space away from cars and motor vehicles is that people cycling are more likely to be riding in closer proximity to pavements and pedestrian spaces, which can make disabled, blind and older people feel unsafe.
The purpose of both governments’ consultations is to increase safety for cyclists and pedestrians, but also to standardise designs so that people easily recognise features such as floating bus stops and understand how to interact with them.
Standardisation is surprisingly important for safety – imagine if each council could choose its own traffic light colours!
Addressing disabled people’s concerns
People who are elderly or disabled, especially those who are blind or visually impaired, can find negotiating our urban environments extremely challenging, and changes such as new cycle routes and floating bus stops can cause additional stress.
Some groups who represent blind people have strongly opposed the creation of floating bus stops and lobbied governments – hence the recent government efforts to consult and improve the guidance.
Cycling UK responded to the public consultations to explain how important cycle routes and floating bus stops are for people who ride bikes to do so safely – away from traffic.
However, we explained that we want to see the various bus stop designs improved and made safer for both pedestrians and cyclists. We consider the updated guidance from Active Travel England on how to design these bus stops to be an improvement. The final Welsh version is yet to be published.
A key consideration is for designers to carefully provide separation between pedestrians wanting to use the bus stops and cyclists wanting to ride past.
The use of zebra crossings on cycle tracks is a crucial feature of the new designs and a way of minimising potential conflict points by showing pedestrians where to cross and making it clear to cyclists where people will be crossing.
Zebra crossings on cycle tracks
Pedestrian crossings have been around since the late 19th century, with the first zebra crossing, with black-and-white road markings, installed in Slough in 1951.
These days we see fewer zebra crossings as we have a whole menagerie of controlled crossing types: pelican, puffin, toucan and equestrian (Pegasus), each with distinct features.
Depending on where you live, new simpler zebra crossings may have appeared or be coming to your neighbourhood – on cycle tracks and on side roads in Wales.
One important feature of these new zebra crossings is the lack of zig-zag markings and Belisha beacons – the flashing yellow globes on poles named after Leslie Hore-Belisha the Minister of Transport who introduced them in 1934.
Despite these differences, the same rules apply when cycling: you must stop for a pedestrian at any zebra crossing, including one on a cycle track (Rule 195 of the Highway Code).
The TSRGD 2016 regulations cover this area of law and paragraph 17.28 of DfT Circular 01/2016 explains that: “Where a crossing is placed across a cycle track, the regulations permit the yellow globes (for zebra crossings) and zig-zag markings to be omitted for the part of the crossing placed on the cycle track, if desired.”
Side road zebras
The Welsh Government has plans to bring forward legislation which allows the introduction of side road zebras in Wales, and there’s a trial planned in Sheffield.
These crossings would be located at side road junctions to allow pedestrians to cross safely, and as on cycle tracks, these would be painted zebra markings but not with Belisha beacons or zig-zag markings. Up to now zebra crossings without lights have only been located on private land – such as at my local Sainsburys.
Side road zebra crossings without lights are quite common in cities around Europe and help to slow and calm traffic and make it clear that pedestrians have priority. A trial in Greater Manchester found that drivers gave way 65% more compared to where there is no marking.
We have welcomed the proposals in Wales as side road zebras provide a physical reminder to people driving and cycling that pedestrians have right of way at side roads, and help reinforce Rule H2 of the Highway Code which says: “At a junction you should give way to pedestrians crossing or waiting to cross a road into which or from which you are turning.”
At Cycling UK, we want to see governments in Westminster, Scotland and Northern Ireland follow Wales’s example and change the law to allow councils to rollout side road zebras and improve safety for all at junctions.
Governments should raise awareness of changes
The introduction of new features, such as side road zebras, needs to be well communicated to the public so that people understand the changes and can follow the rules. For example, the UK Government still hasn’t done enough to educate the public on the Highway Code’s new rules, introduced in 2022.
You can use our online e-action to message your MP and ask them to press the government to finally communicate the new rules properly to the public.
Councils which create safe cycle routes and bus stop bypasses should also be helping users understand how to interact safely with the new features, and hopefully give reassurance to blind people, disabled people and the elderly.
The combination of cycle tracks separated from traffic, bus stop bypasses and uncontrolled zebra crossings can be a big change to a neighbourhood and it’s not surprising people are fearful or don’t understand how to interact safely with it.
Ride considerately
As people who ride bikes we need to look out for and keep pedestrians safe, abiding by Rule H1 of the Highway Code which explains the hierarchy of road users and their responsibilities, and rules about giving way at zebra crossings.
Our online guide to sharing space with pedestrians sets out the rules you must follow and explains why it’s important.
Councils are increasingly building new cycle routes in our towns and cities which is fantastic news for safety and for attracting more people to cycle for everyday journeys. If you have a new safe cycle route in your town I hope you enjoy using it and appreciate not having to dodge the traffic.
It’s up to us all to cycle these new routes responsibly and look out for pedestrians and other vulnerable road users.
