SEPTA has reviewed video of Wednesday’s incident in which a cyclist stopped a SEPTA bus in Center City and tells Billy Penn it has concluded the bus driver did nothing wrong.
After reviewing video of the events leading up to the incident, from the bus and from areas along its route, SEPTA spokesperson Carla Showell-Lee described what happened:
The cyclist was ahead of the bus going east on Locust Street, and a truck that was in the parking lane obstructed their way. The cyclist moved slightly to avoid the truck. The bus moved over as well and passed the cyclist at the same time as the cyclist was passing the truck. Showell-Lee said the driver left “plenty of room for everybody.” Pennsylvania law requires drivers to allow four feet of space when passing bicycles.
The cyclist then pedaled quickly to get back ahead of the bus.
Then he stopped in front of it and continued standing there, halting the bus.
“The driver acted professionally,” Showell-Lee said. “From the operator’s standpoint we can’t see he had done anything wrong.”
SEPTA did not get the name of the cyclist. Showell-Lee said he could have faced a charge of “interfering with public transit,” a summary offense.
The video was not made available to Billy Penn but Showell-Lee says we’ll be able to watch it on Tuesday.
Here’s what the area near where the incident occurred looks like on Google Street View:
Witness Matthew Kay said the cyclist held up the bus for an hour and passengers got off the bus.
Here’s video of the cyclist’s interactions with a police officer:
