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I sympathize; this has almost happened to me so many times, including on Georgia Ave. with 70 buses. Bus drivers regularly cut me off while biking or squeeze me too close to parked cars. They are the biggest annoyance out there (other than maybe taxis) and bus drivers sometimes seem like deliberate jerks.

But really, this is a structural problem of sharing the streets because the speeds and stopping of bikes and buses don't line up well. It is a constant frustration to let a bus pull to the stop, then cautiously go around it, then 3 blocks later have it fly past (dangerously close), then have it cut you off/stop and you go around it carefully. Then maybe there are 2 buses herded together stopping at the same stop. Etc.

On the other hand, constantly dealing with the same bikes over and over doesn't seem very fun for the bus drivers either.

I am not sure what the solution is other than maybe encouraging bike routes that are not on major bus routes (and Georgia Ave. in particular is not really bike-friendly at all). They really don't play well together.

by jeff gerhard on Jun 7, 2012 10:36 am • link • report