Bus drivers and their interactions with cyclists: An analysis of minor conflicts

Abstract

Driving a bus in a city is a challenging task as it demands paying attention to changing conditions (e.g., weather, congestion) while interacting with passengers and other road users who sometimes display unpredictable behaviours. Cyclists play an important role in these interactions. This paper investigates how cyclists are perceived by bus drivers and how conflicts arising from their daily interactions shape the attitudes of bus drivers. A total of 639 bus drivers (4% of the workforce, 91% males) working in Santiago de Chile responded an online survey. The survey asked drivers about their perception of other transport modes, their experience with traffic collisions and the conflicts they have had with cyclists. Later, logistic regression models were estimated, using “coexistence with cyclists” as the dependent variable. The findings show that younger and older drivers have a better perception of cyclists compared to middle-aged ones. Negative experiences with cyclists worsen the perception of co-existence with cyclists; meanwhile, previous cycling experience was unrelated to drivers’ perceptions. The results also suggest that existing norms are perceived as ineffective. Finally, gender was not statistically significant in shaping bus drivers’ perception of cyclists, yet this topic requires further attention as the composition of the public transport labour force is changing.