Whenever I’m stewing over writing this column and ask friends of mine for ideas, they often tell me ‘You’ve got to write about when I got cut-up on this or that roundabout’, or some such irritation. Because, if you have a bicycle, you’ll know that as they’re smaller than other road vehicles it can be difficult to avoid being pushed around.

Lots of times I hear buses mentioned in near accidents or in trouble on the road. But I find bus drivers in Oxford are generally some of the more considerate drivers – in comparison to, say, those of vans or minicabs.

I know a couple of lovely bus drivers, and I’ve had some buses let me and my kids out of difficult junctions with our bikes. So I’d like to say that if there are any kind-to-bikes bus drivers reading this: ‘keep up the good work, your politeness is noticed’.

There are, however, a few exceptions. The city centre and the area around the railway station seem to show ‘buses versus bikes’ at their worst.

One particular gripe that keeps coming up is the fact that cycling is allowed in Queen Street in both directions outside shopping hours, as it clearly indicates on signs at the ends of the street.

A few of my friends who cycle for early trains say they have had bus drivers swearing and occasionally (yes, more than once) trying to run them down if they cycle down the road from Carfax towards the library.

I do have a certain amount of sympathy with bus drivers in Queen Street who are on a tight schedule, especially given the number of stationary buses they have to negotiate around.

But how much room would a cyclist coming the other way actually need? Bus drivers are used to being able to get their vehicles through the eyes of proverbial needles, so can’t they lay off the aggro and just let the cyclists have a wee bit of room down the side of the street between the bus and the pavement?

It begs the question, if this is how things stand now, what will happen when all the bus stops are moved out of Queen Street and squeezed onto St Aldate’s, when the Transform Oxford plan is put into action?

At present, the top of High Street can be treacherous during the day for cyclists, with parked vans, taxis and buses in a chaotic mix in the middle of the street. Foolhardy cyclists sometimes squeeze into it to try and get to the corner of Carfax and then dismount before heading down Cornmarket (not a plan I’d go for, as going via Turl Street is an easy way to avoid this – and with the traffic seized up it’s usually easy to cross the road).

Personally I don’t want run-ins with bus drivers – trying to pay for a ticket with a £20 note when I use them is enough hassle for me – and I don’t want to slow them down either.

So how can bikes and buses travel safely together in the centre of Oxford?

Great consideration is needed on both sides to create a more harmonious co-existence.

The recent moves to encourage bus drivers to cycle around the city and see it from a cyclists’ point of view is definitely a step forward.