Transport for London recently announced a range of cutting-edge technologies are to be trialled across the London bus network this year as part of the TfL Bus Safety Innovation Challenge.

The challenge pairs bus operators with innovative technology developers to develop solutions to road danger that could complement TfL's existing Bus Safety Standard.

Over the past decade the number of people killed or seriously injured as a result of a collision involving a bus or coach has decreased by 54%, it is recognised that much more needs to be done to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries altogether and achieve Vision Zero.

The Bus Safety Innovation Challenge has an important role to play in this. The five successful applications for the fund are:

• A tool that calculates the risk of fatigue in real time
• Vulnerable road user intent prediction software that analyses people walking or cycling near a bus, anticipates their behaviour and alerts the driver using Artificial Intelligence and analytics in real time
• A video-based driver safety coaching programme that uses clips of actual events so that everyone can learn from them
• A lighting system that illuminates areas of greater risk around buses to other road users, comes on and off automatically in slow-speed circumstances and that flashes to indicate when a bus is turning
• A pedestrian & cyclist detection and driver alert system that detects vulnerable road users faster than a human can

Successful innovations
TfL will support these trials by funding specialist independent analysis. This means that robust evidence will be produced to test the effectiveness of each product in reducing casualties and will then explore how to introduce any of the successful innovations into its Bus Safety Standard.

The specific projects will be Abellio trialling the Datik fatigue monitoring tool, Arriva will trial the Humanising Autonomy vulnerable road user intent prediction software whilst CT Plus will trial the Lytx Video-based driver safety coaching programme. In addition, Metroline will trial the JBDL lighting system to illuminate area by the side of buses and Stagecoach will trial the Fusion pedestrian & cyclist detection and driver alert system.