Over the past three years, SoMoCo have been working with TfL to improve bus customer safety. The insights generated through this work, and through related initiatives, are shared with operators and other regions to strengthen a culture of learning, innovation and safer practice.

Overview / abstract
What if one of the riskiest moments in a bus journey feels intuitively safe?

Drawing on a behavioural audit and a deep-dive analysis of 32 independently selected non-collision injury clips, this presentation introduces the discovery of a “slow speed paradox”: many slips, trips and falls occur not at higher speeds, but when buses are travelling very slowly, typically below 6 mph.

In this phase of the journey, passengers often interpret slow movement as a cue that it is safe to stand, release the handrail and move towards the exit. Unfortunately, the forces that cause loss of balance are driven less by speed itself than by braking and other changes in motion.

This error of judgement can be explained by a little known behavioural mechanism ‘predictive coding’. Predictive coding is where the brain uses prior related experiences to make rapid predictions about what will happen next, using this as a non-conscious guide to action. In everyday life, slow movement usually signals stability. On a bus, that otherwise useful prediction becomes the wrong guide in the wrong environment.

Because it feels true, conventional information-led interventions are limited. The problem is not simply a lack of awareness; it is a nonconscious sense of safety at precisely the wrong moment.

From there, the presentation moves from insight to intervention. It shows how behavioural scientists can diagnose both nonconscious and conscious drivers of early standing, including fear of missing a stop, concern the influence of frailty and fear of judgement and social cueing from other passengers, and why such influences require a coordinated, system-level response rather than a single behavioural fix.

Attendees will leave with a fresh way of interpreting seemingly counterintuitive behaviours, with practical examples of solutions they could explore, adapt or trial in their own context. 

Nicola Wass or Dr Holly Hope-Smith, SoMoCo (TBC)

Biog to follow

Emma White, Bus Safety Development Manager, TfL

Emma White has over 15 years’ experience of working in the public sector, mostly in road safety for Transport for London (TfL).

She has worked on a wide range of road safety projects, including leading the roll-out of the Community Roadwatch across all 33 London Boroughs, and piloting a dedicated problem-solving process to tackle road safety issues.

Emma’s current team at TfL introduced the Bus Safety Standard, which has also won a Prince Michael International Road Safety Award. Emma is currently leading the bus customer injury reduction programme, which includes running multiple on-bus trials aimed at reducing slips, trips and falls.