Blind woman urges PM to ban floating bus stops

A blind woman who has campaigned against bus stops that have cycle lanes between the pavement and passenger waiting island has called on the Prime Minister to ban and remove them across the country.

Marilyn Lant from Exeter, Devon joined other blind, deafblind, and partially sighted people and wheelchair users from across the United Kingdom to protest against further roll out at Whitehall on Monday.

While designed to protect cyclists from main-road traffic, critics argue the so-called floating bus-stops create a hazard for vulnerable people trying to board or leave buses.

Lant said she wanted the stops removed because there was "no way I can cross a two-way cycleway safely with a guide dog".

There are two different types of floating bus stops.

Shared Use Bus Borders are where the cycle lane runs across the front of the bus stop, between the shelter and the kerb where buses stop, and bus stop bypasses are where the bike track runs behind the bus stop or shelter.

In November 2025, the minister for roads and buses, Simon Lightwood MP, wrote to all local authorities in England asking them to pause the installation of floating bus stop designs which require passengers to board directly from or into a cycle track.

This pause remains in place but Lant wants Andy Burnham to "stop them completely".

She said: "We don't want any more and we want the ones we already have taken away.

"We want safety and our independence back and to just to go back to a curb with not having to cross a two-way cycle way.

"I'm not going to give up on this one."

Lant said she was "fighting" because "the only way blind people can get from A to B is on a bus".

She said it was "not easy" for her to navigate the stops, as she does not know if a cyclist will stop.

"I can't see or hear a bike so I could be standing for five minutes, an hour, all day and I still would not know if there's a bike coming or not. I'd have to take a chance.

"It's just the anxiety of what's going to happen, it just makes me very anxious that I may get hit when I have cyclists go around me."

She added: "We're not against cyclists, we just want to be safe and independent and live our lives."

Rifford Road in Exeter has a number of floating bus stops and Devon County Council has installed zebra crossings to address the issue but Lant believes "it's still not good enough".

She said she would like signage and a controlled crossing that bleeps to indicate when it is safe to cross.

Devon County Council has been approached for comment.

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