Editing Bus stop (section)

== Regulation ==
{{Globalize|section|[[Victoria, Australia]]|date=July 2021}}
[[File:Temporary bus stop, Saint Marks Road - geograph.org.uk - 1018734.jpg|thumb|upright|Sign marking a temporary bus stop in London]]
Some jurisdictions have introduced particularised legislative controls to foster safer bus stop design and management.  The [[State of Victoria]], [[Australia]], for example, has enacted a [[Bus Safety Act]] which contains performance-based duties of care<ref>[[Bus Safety Act|Bus Safety Act 2009]], Part 3.</ref> which apply to all industry participants who are in a position to influence the safety of bus operations - what is called the "[[chain of responsibility]]". The safety duties apply to all bus services, both commercial and non-commercial, and to all buses regardless of [[seating capacity]].  Breach of the duty is a serious criminal offence which carries a heavy penalty.

The primary duty holder under the Bus Safety Act is the operator of the bus service, as the person who has effective responsibility and control over the whole operation.<ref>Bus Safety Act 2009, section 15.</ref> However, the Act also contains a safety duty covering "people with responsibility for bus stops", including people who design, build, or maintain the stop, plus those who decide on its location.<ref>[[Bus Safety Act|Bus Safety Act 2009]], section 18.</ref>

This duty was introduced in response to research showing that the most serious hazard associated with bus travel occurs when passengers, especially children, are crossing the road after alighting from the bus. The location and layout of a bus stop is therefore a factor in the level of risk.<ref>See ''Improving Bus Safety in Victoria'', a discussion paper published by the [[Department of Transport (Victoria, 2008–13)|Department of Transport]] in May 2009.</ref>

Safety duties are also imposed by the [[Bus Safety Act]] on a range of other people including -
* "bus safety workers" including drivers, schedulers who set bus [[timetables]], and [[mechanics]] and testers who repair or assess vehicle safety<ref>Bus Safety Act 2009, section 17.</ref>
* "procurers" - people who procure the bus service, known as the "customer" in the commercial charter sector.<ref>Bus Safety Act 2009, section 16.</ref>

All of these persons can clearly affect bus safety.  They are required by the [[Bus Safety Act]] to ensure that, in carrying out their activities, they eliminate risks to health and safety if 'practicable' - or work to reduce those risks 'so far as is reasonably practicable'.  This familiar practicability formula is borrowed from Victoria's [[Rail Safety Act]] (and a subsequent national model Rail Safety Bill) and the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004.

In Europe, as a rule, the design of roads and the placement of road signs are subject to detailed technical standards, the requirements of which should ensure the safety of local traffic regulation, and is subject to official approval. As a rule, it is permissible to place a stop of a bus line only in a place that is approved and marked as a bus stop.