Bus bulb

A bus bulb on Broadway in Tribeca, Manhattan
Bus bulb in Budapest (Honvéd utca)
A schematic drawing of a bus bulb.

A bus bulb, also called a bus boarder, bus border, bumpout, bus cape,[1] or a kerb outstand is an arrangement by which a sidewalk or pavement is extended outwards for a bus stop; typically the bus bulb replaces roadway that would otherwise be part of a parking lane. With bus bulbs or boarders, a bus can stay in its traffic lane to discharge and pick up passengers, instead of having to pull over to the curb.

The term bus bulb is prevalent in North American usage, whilst bus boarder or bus border is used elsewhere.[2][3][4]

A bus bulb or boarder can be considered as a specific form of curb extension, although that term is more normally used to describe a sidewalk extension for the purposes of traffic calming or other traffic management purposes.

  1. ^ "Principles of successful high quality public transport operation and development, Guidelines for European High Quality Public Transport in small and medium sized cities" (PDF). Directorate General for Energy and Transport, European Commission. 2009. pp. 83–85. Retrieved 17 January 2014.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Transit Cooperative Research Program Report 65, Evaluation of Bus Bulbs" (PDF). Transportation Research Board. 2001. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 May 2005. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  3. ^ "Accessible bus stop design guidance" (PDF). Transport for London. 2006. pp. 31–36. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  4. ^ "Buses". Auckland City Council. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2008.