The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway is to undergo a safety review after a pedestrian was killed close to where a cyclist lost his life three years ago.
The victim in the latest incident, which happened on 27 October, with police continuing to investigate, was a woman aged in her 50s, reports BBC News.
Following her death, Rob Moir, whose brother Steve, aged 50, was killed in September 2018 on the same section of the route when he clipped a kerb on the shared path that runs along the busway and fell into the path of a bus repeated his appeal for a safety review to be conducted.
He has called for a physical barrier to be placed between the busway and the path used by pedestrians and cyclists.
> Family says authorities “aren’t really bothered” that cyclist died on Cambridge guided busway
Cambridgeshire County Council has now confirmed that an independent review will be carried out on the section of the busway south of Cambridge railway station where both deaths happened to assess how safety can be improved.
Peter McDonald, who chairs the council’s Highways and Transport Committee, said on Thursday: “Firstly, on behalf of the county council, I would like to offer our condolences to the family and friends of the woman who was sadly killed on the busway.
“Safety on the busway is a priority for the county council and remains under continuous review.
“We have identified a suitable expert to carry out a fully independent analysis into what has happened on this section of the southern busway.
“This will include a further review of the previous fatal incident on this section of the southern busway and will make recommendations as to any improvements that could reasonably be made.”
He added: “We will update on this work in due course. In addition, we will continue to assist the police and coroner with their investigations as required.”
Speaking on behalf of his family, Mr Moir thanked the committee “for doing the right thing” by ordering the review.
He said: “We hope that there will be a swift conclusion to that analysis and that resulting recommendations for safety improvements will be forthcoming, which we believe are absolutely necessary for the safety of all people making use of that valuable transport link.”
His brother’s death is also the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Health & Safety Executive, which has also launched an investigation into the woman’s death.
Opened in 2011, the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway runs from Cambridge to St Ives, a distance of 16 miles, making it the longest such transport link in the world.
9 thoughts on “Council orders safety review of Cambridgeshire Guided Busway after deaths of cyclist and pedestrian”
Was it really three years ago
Was it really three years ago that Socrapi and maybe Nic was arguing it was the cyclists fault for going so fast and not slowing down when seeing the bus approach. I wonder how it was the pedestrians fault this time?
You wouldn’t run a (shared)
You wouldn’t run a (shared) path along the side of a railway or light rail system without a physical barrier (Ok Trams in city centres), so why is this system any different. The picture above even show a fence between the busway and the railway.
The busway has much higher speed limits than the city centre roads (up to 70 mph) isn’t that akin to turning the hard sholder of a motorway into a 2 way shared path.
You can’t run a shared
You can’t run a shared anything alongside a railway. The boundary of the railway is always fenced. Basically because train signalling assumes a completely sealed environment and trains can’t stop very easily, even in the dry.
A tram/light rail system operates to different regulations and signalling to trains taking into account that they interact with road users of all types. The busway uses road type traffic signals as the buses are just, well, buses. Trams can stop much quicker than trains. Just not as quickly as buses.
The busway has a speed limit similar to a rural road, so it’s like having a shared use path along side a rural single carriageway road, with the only vehicles being buses. So not really like the hard shoulder of a motorway at all. EDIT – just read that the section where the cyclist was killed had the speed limit reduced to 30mph 3 years ago in response to the fatal collision.
I have no idea about the circumstances of this incident. But the issue to consider with fencing off the path from the busway is that fences can both keep people out and keep people in. Having the potential not only to discourage or prevent people straying on but also to trap people when they are there, as well as encouraging drivers to behave as if they’re on a sealed system. Like a railway.
This was reported before
This was reported before Steve Moir – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-42806874. Who would have thought that bus drivers exceed the speed limit?
And this piece after his death highlights some important points – https://katiethornburrow.com/2018/09/how-can-we-make-the-guided-busway-safer/
Manchester appear to have the right idea, IMO Cambridge have just got it wrong
DoomeFrog wrote:
Cambridge have got oh, so much wrong about cycling. It trades on its reputation as a cycling city, but – having lived here for nearly 20 years now – it’s by far the worst place I’ve lived for cyclists.
Nixster wrote:
Except that on a rural road a bus could deviate to avoid someone who stumbled into the carriageway, whereas on the guided busway, they only have control over speed.
wycombewheeler wrote:
Or they could deviate to pass at a safe passing distance – not that they ever would – but the fact that the bus track is ‘separate’ from the shared use path, does not negate the need for passing at a safe distance. Just like an on-carriageway cycle lane does not.
jh2727 wrote:
and yet people have fallen into the busway and been hit, so either there needs to be more seperation betwen the busway and the shared path, or there needs to be a barrier between the two.
That section is a bit of
That section is a bit of nightmare. I still remember these two accidents when I used to commute every day along there. Quite happy not to now. The added painted line & text saying ‘Beware buses’ is as useless as it sounds.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-40360991
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-45199734