(Photo © J. Maus)
The latest episode of TriMet TV is titled, Buses, Trains & Bikes: Sharing the Road.
The piece outlines many safe biking measures aimed at keeping bike riders safe while operating around buses and MAX trains.
Among all the expected messages the narrator shares (use signals, walk your bike on MAX platforms, look both ways, etc…) is this one about the dreaded “leap-frogging” that occurs on some busy bike and bus routes (like N. Williams):
“Buses and bikes share the right side of the road, and often have to “weave” across each other’s paths as buses serve stops. Buses aren’t permitted to cross bike lanes to get to a bus stop until the bike lane is clear. If you approach a bus serving a stop, pass on the left.
When you see a stopped bus with the right blinker or the flashers activated, that means passengers are getting on and off and you should pass on the left. When a bus is flashing its “Yield” sign, don’t pass. Instead, allow the bus back into the center of the lane. You should even stop if necessary. Yield signs allow buses to get back into traffic after they leave stops, so they can stay on schedule.”
Watch the movie below (I’ve uploaded it to YouTube because I didn’t see any embed code on TriMet’s website). You can read a full transcript of the episode here.