After years of moaning about each other, cyclists and bus drivers have initiated a much-needed process of reconciliation.

It all began three years ago, when Cowley Road's roadworks were a blot on the local landscape. Buses were supposed to be going more carefully, yet more cyclists than ever reported being "bullied" off the road. Cyclists responded to the gridlock by freewheeling all over the pavements.

Chaos reigned and the road became safer perhaps only because daytime traffic was reduced to walking pace. Few cyclists seemingly realised the grave dangers of cycling down the inside (kerbside) of buses. Fewer still thought to signal their intentions to drivers.

The council had a snazzy campaign to teach women to look over their right shoulders - addressing what is the single most common cause of serious accidents. "Master the art of the backwards look" was very good, but the message didn't get out to the non-backwards- lookers. It was on the back of the council's cycle maps, but these went out of print a year ago.

So Cyclox decided to make a film to highlight problems with and solutions to the bikes-and-buses conundrum. I wanted something instructive, but Heidi Bachram (filmmaker) and Clare Symonds (producer) reckoned that admonishment would fall on deaf ears. They preferred to let cyclists and bus drivers have their say, leaving the audience to form their own opinion.

I thought this was wishy-washy liberal tosh but, to my amazement, the film is a lot better their way. Even my boss on this paper admitted that (knowing me) he was impressed by how balanced the film is. The bus companies love it and are using it in their training programmes. The cyclists who were at the launch agreed it was highly effective. Phew. You can watch the Oxford Mail's video report at oxfordmail.net. The full Cyclox films are at http://tinyurl.com/3lvoen More than 50 people turned up for the panel debate, part of the Bikes & Buses launch at the Regal two weeks ago. There were more sensible questions and answers than we'd bargained for. In fact, it went so well we've decided to put on a similar but much bigger evening this autumn. Watch this column for details.

Louisa Weeks of Oxford Bus Company and Paul O'Callaghan of Stagecoach joined yours truly and Ros Weatherall of Cyclox on the panel. We discussed the problem of leapfrogging and how to avoid it: cyclists need to watch for drivers' eyes in the bus mirror. If you can see a driver is pulling out, let the bus go. Drivers need to check carefully for cyclists that are already passing and remember that some bikes go fast. There is no point in overtaking a cyclist only to pull in immediately at the kerb.

We discussed roads being paralysed by buses at bus stops. London-style pre-ticketing is the answer. We agreed that back-of-bus advertising is probably the most effective way to communicate with non-backwards- looking cyclists. The panel discussed the regulation of cyclists (no thanks) and concluded "if cyclists want the protection of the law, they need to abide by the law too".