Research into the safety of London bus passengers

Key recommendationsReduce harsh braking and acceleration incidents; • Encourage the use of forward collision warning systems to assist drivers negotiating congested traffic; • Enable passengers to sit down before bus pulls away from bus stops; • Encourage passenger behaviour change using nudge techniques or additional information sources to enable them to stay seated until the bus has completely stopped before alighting; • Encourage passengers to routinely hold onto grab-rails and seat rails whilst sat down; • Raise awareness of the impact of a driver’s behaviour and decision making on a passengers psychological and physical well-being through driver empathy training; • Review the issue of the ‘open’ forward-facing seats into the wheelchair / buggy area to prevent passengers being thrown out of them in instances of harsh braking; • Consider evaluating and increasing running times in the off peak-periods to enable drivers to accommodate the needs of older passengers to reach a seat on boarding and remain seated until fully stopped for alighting the bus; • Promote the needs of drivers and passengers to increase the dialogue on buses and raise awareness of expected behaviours e.g. passengers must always hold on to handrails; • Consider policy changes to enhance driver behaviour; particularly to not pull away until passengers are sat down; always kneel the bus and wait until bus has stopped before passengers stand to alight; • Potentially consider gamification of bus drivers to rate their driving and provide awards