Floating Bus Stops Campaign Letter

What are floating bus stops?

It’s a bus stop which has a carriageway or a cycle track running behind it so that people board or alight a bus from what is essentially either a large traffic island or perhaps something which looks like central reserve.

Why are we campaigning against them?

Blind, visually impaired, disabled, older and vulnerable bus passengers should be able to get on and off the bus independently directly from the pavement as they have always done.

The majority of cyclists, which now also includes many other forms of e-micro-mobility both legal and illegal, do not stop and they cannot be heard against the background noise of the road environment. The bus islands and designs are also inaccessible for blind and visually impaired people to navigate safely and independently, leading to people becoming disorientated, confused and isolated.

Writing to your MP

Writing to your MP can help to raise awareness of issues that are affecting Disabled People or people with long term health conditions. MPs have the power to affect national change. The more people that take action, the greater the impact!

What your MP can do for you.

MPs can assist their constituents in a variety of ways, from making private enquiries on your behalf, to raising matters publicly in the House of Commons.

Find out who your local MP is using www.theyworkforyou.com

Or, call the House of Commons Information Office on 020 7219 4272.

Callers with a text phone can talk through Text Relay by calling 18001 followed by our full number.

Template Letter to send to your MP

{YOUR FULL ADDRESS}
{YOUR POSTCODE}
{DATE}

Dear {MP NAME},  

My names is {YOUR NAME} and I am a Disabled Person living in {YOUR CONSTITUENCY}. I am writing to you today because I am concerned about Floating Bus Stops. Floating bus stops have a carriageway or a cycle track running behind it so that people board or alight a bus from what is essentially either a large traffic island or perhaps something which looks like central reserve.

This is something that’s particularly important to me as {EXPLAIN KEY REASONS AND ANY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES THAT HAVE INFORMED THIS}.  

I am asking you to take the following steps to address my concerns:  

Halt all funding for any schemes using floating or shared use bus boarder in the UK and immediately act on the NFBUKs petition, now backed by over 250 supporting organisations which calls for:

• Direct access to and from the pavement to board and alight from the bus is protected for all bus passengers.
• No more floating bus stop or Copenhagen style bus stop/cycle track at bus border to be constructed in the UK.
• For all active travel schemes/street redesigns in planning process to be redesigned to ensure direct access from the pavement to the bus is protected.
• References to using floating bus stops (bus stop bypasses) and Copenhagen style bus stops/cycle track at bus borders be removed from all Guidance produced by the Department for Transport and by devolved parliaments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• For all temporary floating bus stops and Copenhagen style bus stops/cycle track at bus borders added during COVID to be immediately removed to ensure direct access to and from the pavement for all bus passengers is restored.
• For all bus stops that have been changed to accommodate cycle lanes to be changed back to ensure direct access to and from the bus stop for all bus passengers.

We ask that these requests are enacted for the whole of England, including Transport for London. With the introduction of floating bus stops in London it’s become much less accessible for Disabled People and people with long term health conditions.  

• {DON’T FORGET TO INCLUDE A REASONABLE TIME FRAME}

In your response I would like you to outline the ways you intend to address this on my behalf. If you’re unable to address this personally, I would like to request that you escalate my letter to the relevant Minister or department.  

Please do keep me informed of any progress made.  

I look forward to hearing from you.  

Yours faithfully,  

{YOUR NAME}

Word version of template letter to download: