Sustrans trials new info-gathering bike lights amid bus lane storm

Mention Belfast’s bus lanes on local radio and you’re guaranteed a row.

The beleaguered buses, the frustrated taxi drivers, the lycra-clad hordes all fighting over the territory - all the road tropes beloved of broadcasters are in there.

But thanks to all the recent political upheaval in Northern Ireland and further afield, the latest bus lane turmoil has gone mostly unnoticed.

Just as the Assembly blinked out of existence, the Department of Infrastructure (DfI) launched one of the most contentious moves in a long time when it announced a 12-week trial permitting private taxis to use Belfast’s bus lanes.

Cyclists were outraged at what they branded a “shock announcement”, with the Bikefast lobby group warning that the announcement of the trial offered no public information on benchmarks, monitoring, judging criteria or safety checks and was implemented without public consultation.

Describing Belfast’s bus lanes as a “safe haven” for cyclists, Sustrans criticised the move as a setback for cycling in the city  given the lack of a segregated bike network.

But that makes this the perfect time for Sustrans to test out groundbreaking new bike lights manufactured in Northern Ireland.

Staff from the sustainable transport group are trialling new ICON lights that are able to gather data about the cyclist’s journey and the road which could help to improve safety.

The lights, manufactured by See.Sense, gather information via sensors about a cyclist’s journey.

They can detect when a cyclist swerves or brakes suddenly and log where this happens. The data can then be used to understand the road environment and can be shared with local authorities to suggest improvements.

The charity says the bus lane trial is of great concern to many cyclists who depend on bus lanes given the lack of dedicated cycle lanes.

Its staff are now logging their journeys and recording any near-miss experiences they have with taxis or other vehicles in bus lanes through the See.Sense technology which pairs the lights with an app on a mobile phone.

See.Sense CEO Philip McAleese says: “Working with Sustrans is a great way to showcase what our technology can do. We provide measured data about the cycling experience, removing the emotion and thus providing real data against which planning decisions can be made.

“It’s not about cars versus bikes, it’s about helping us understand how to use the limited road space most effectively.”

Sustrans says one of the main barriers to cycling is safety, and in particular, the perception of safety, which it works to improve through lobbying for better infrastructure and providing training to both cyclists and other road users such as lorry drivers.

Gordon Clarke, Sustrans Northern Ireland Director, says: “This is fascinating new technology which has potentially lots of really useful applications and is particularly helpful with the information we are trying to gather at the moment during this trial of taxis in bus lanes.”

The Department is currently consulting on a Belfast Bicycle Network which will hopefully improve cycling infrastructure but must be backed by immediate investment.

Sustrans says that in Dublin where taxis have been allowed in bus lanes since the late 1990s they are considered the biggest problem for cycling safety, mainly due to their speed and close passing of cyclists.

In order for cyclists to be more visible and safe when cycling on a road or bus lane, Sustrans recommends they adopt a position at least one metre (an arm’s length) from the kerb edge.

Its says that given that the majority of bus lanes in greater Belfast are 3m wide, by adopting this position on the road there is insufficient space for taxis to pass cyclists within the lane. In order to pass cyclists, taxi drivers will have to move into the outside lane.

The 12-week trial scheme allows most taxis (Class A and any of the remaining taxis still licensed as private hire and public hire outside Belfast) to use bus lanes on Belfast Rapid Transit (BRT) on east and west Belfast routes and 12-hour bus lanes in the city centre, which link them.