Bus drivers take turns in cycle lane

Some Auckland bus drivers – including those with ‘‘attitude issues’’ – are being made to cycle across the city in an effort to up their empathy for cyclists.

In the half-day workshop, the bus drivers jump on bikes and ride in close proximity to buses and other traffic, to see what it’s like when the tables have turned.

They also have to stand on the side of a road while a large truck speeds past – allowing them to get a sense of what it feels like to be overtaken by heavy vehicles.

The workshops, run by Share the Road, and funded by the New Zealand Transport Agency, are optional, but are sometimes used as reformative measure for divers who have ‘‘attitude issues’’.

The empathy training comes to light as bus-cyclists tensions throughout the Super City continue to build.

On Monday, a cyclist was almost driven off the road by an Innerlink bus in Newmarket that merged into his lane while he was still in it.

The cycle-commuter, Alec Tang, captured the dangerous lane-changing on a camera on his bike helmet.

During the resulting confrontation, the bus driver defended his actions and told Tang: ‘‘You cannot take up the whole lane’’.

But the police disagreed, and said Tang had every right to be where he was.

The incident triggered a raft of criticisms for both parties, with some saying buses driving assertively is a necessary evil to stick to rigid timetables.

Network operator Auckland Transport said systems were being created to efficiently deal with such incidents, along with developing training guidelines for all bus operators and road safety forums. In the meantime, NZ Bus, and other transport companies such as Waste Management continue to send their professional drivers through the training.

About 800 people have attended Share the Road’s workshops across the country, over the five years they have been running.

‘‘Sometimes drivers are encouraged to participate, ones that have had attitude issues, but the are basically optional,’’ said Share the Road’s manager, Richard Barter.

‘‘Its not a punishment, it is professional development and they have a great time, every workshop we end up having two or three drivers tell us they are going to go out and get a bike [because] they enjoyed it so much.’’

During the workshop, drivers do a 3-kilometre ride in controlled conditions, so they understand issues like car doors opening, rubbish on the road and where cyclists ride to protect themselves.

Barter said it was important to remember heavy vehicle drivers were often under ‘‘enormous’’ stress and it could sometimes be very difficult to see cyclists.

‘‘We also run workshops for cyclists because a great majority of cyclists don’t understand where the blind zones are around heavy vehicles.’’