marqueemoon

I was cut off by a bus this morning. I might have been in the driver's blind spot, but I doubt it. The bus was to my right and I was alongside it (it was a long articulated bus). The driver for some reason decided that was an appropriate time to change lanes and did so very quickly. If I had been any further to the right of my lane than dead center (buying me just enough time to see what was happening and take action) I would not be typing this right now.

Helmet Head

How is it that you were to the left of the bus? Was he in the outside lane and you were in the adjacent lane?

Bekologist

Before this degenerates into jibberjabber about bike position and VC powerweave techniques,

let me add that bicyclists in Seattle are commonly seen passing busses on the left side of four lane arterials or larger.....it is a commonplace, everyday occurance encoutered by many a bicycle commuter in the greater Puget Sound area....

gboy

Whenever I pass a bus, either in the HOV-lane or a normal curb-lane, I situate myself to the left-of-centre of the lane and make sure the bus driver (and approaching vehicles see me). With the new yield to bus laws, it's sometimes difficult to judge when the bus wants to get back into traffic.

DanO220

You didn't say whether the bus was merging back into traffic after picking up passengers from a stop, or if the bus was already in motion and needed to change lanes, say, in order to get into a left turn lane. It's two different situations that require two different thought processes and techniques.

I often swing out and around busses that are picking up passengers. But I try and get a look to see if there's a line of passengers boarding, or if the driver is closing the doors and signaling in order to merge back into traffic, before I commit to overtaking. You also better glance back to make sure there's not a big rig with a wide load passing as well. Sometimes it's better to coast a bit and let them back into the traffic pattern. If you ride in traffic on a regular basis, evaluating the situation and executing the prudent manuver becomes second nature.

Now if, on the other hand, you are swinging out on the left and passing buses that are already moving at speed, you are much faster than I. And remember; in either situation, driving a long, articulated bus in city traffic isn't easy. They can't wait for a gap of sixty feet to open up before changing lanes. It's simply not going to happen. I see buses and trucks move over on cars, in order to get them to either speed up or back off, all the time. It's a jungle out there. And if you can't run with the big dogs...

DanO

marqueemoon

Thank you for bringing this up. I am not interested in debating the VC-appropriateness of my riding today. I did the best I could under the circumstances.

In my case I was traveling East on Olive which has heavy bus traffic. Normally I take the far right lane as quickly as possible after turning onto this street but today this exact bus was in my way. There was no way to get over or pass it. It was not picking up passengers, but was slowing down because of slow moving cars in front of it. There was no space to get over to get to the right behind it, and no way to pass it. Many buses pull off to the right at the stop in the next block. I did not assume this one would be pulling right though.

The street in question is heavily travelled by buses. Without going into too much detail on the geography of Seattle I will say that I ride this particular stretch of road because I have very few other options for getting where I'm going. This one is the most direct, and the other routes also have heavy bus and car traffic.

thekorn

Here is a related Seattle bus complaint: Part of my commute is on lake city way heading south from lake forest park. There are 2 lanes of southbound traffic and a bus lane on the far right. There is no shoulder or anything at all to ride on to the right of the bus lane. So naturally I take the bus lane. At the time I am riding, the bus lane is empty 90% of the time, meaning that 9 times out of 10 I dont even see a bus on the 3/4 mile stretch in question. It has happened at least 2 times that a bus comes up behind me and lays on its horn. I look to the left. There are no cars passing. The bus has all the room in the world to pass me but is laying on its horn directly behind me instead. Then the bus finally passes me, but so close that once it scraped the side of my panniers-I'm not exaggerating. All the while I'm riding in a straight line toward the right side of the bus lane. This is the only spot on my commute with bus trouble so far. Whats going on here?

RonH

I think it's just the mentality of bus drivers.
Yesterday I was taking the lane on a road with a debatable width - narrow? wide?
Anyway, the driver decided he was tired of following me and barely crossed the center line in order to get around me. When I saw what was happening I did a quick move to the right. That didn't help a whole lot. He missed me by less than a foot.

Eatadonut

Exactly why I spend as very little time as possible next to buses. They're likely to change lanes into you, even if you think you're not in their blind spot, even if you can see them in their mirrors. I suggest you do the same, or expect this to happen again and be prepared to dodge.

I do the same thing in my car. Whether or not he has the right-of-way, he's GOING to change lanes into me.

marqueemoon

Duly noted, but I also e-mailed Metro with the bus number, location, and time. Things like this happen, and I try to be alert, but I don't see any reason to just accept the situation.

I hardly ever use my bus pass but I still pay for it.

Bklyn

Wow. I find that New York bus drivers are like the saints of the road. (This is the rare time I'm not being ironic.) Cars cut off buses routinely here, but it's the rare bus driver that gets riled. Of course, I treat them as dinosaurs that can't be held responsible for where they step.

ken cummings

Number, place, and time yes I got my wallet back once because I had noted those numbers on a bus I was riding. I trained to be a bus driver and passed the Class B with passenger endorsesment test in California. I learned that for complaints about bus drivers to be most effective they should go to the state department that liceinses the drivers. Metro has an incentive to keep the driver on the road. After my training I stopped passing buses most of the time. Drivers in an urban setting have enough problems. I wait until they start to pull into a stop with several waiting passengers. Then I know I will likely have enough time to get around them.