Mark Harper, Secretary of State for Transport has recently issued new guidance on, amongst other things, bus lanes’ the hours of operation. Bus lanes, he asserts, should only operate when needed. Furthermore, ‘surplus funds’ from enforcement should be restricted, Harper believes.

Read the excerpts, quoted below (click the hyperlinks for fuller information, if you’re keen) and see if you can see a logical inconsistency…

At the moment, restrictions on bus lane use are too rigid, creating delays and causing regular fines for drivers. New guidance on bus lanes has also been issued today, to make sure they only operate when it makes sense, like when traffic is heavy enough to delay buses. This will prevent drivers being hit with unfair fines.

News story – Crackdown on anti-driver road schemes and blanket 20mph limits to put local consent first, DfT and The Rt Hon Mark Harper MP, Published 17 March 2024

While this guidance focuses on improving bus services, it is important to recognise the possible impacts on other road users. The Plan for Drivers, published in October 2023, includes a range of measures to ensure smoother journeys. This guidance delivers the commitment to strengthen guidance to make sure bus lanes help rather than hinder traffic.

As set out in the 2024 BSIP guidance, the NBS states that to increase bus use, buses must become attractive to far more people. The key to doing this is making them faster and more reliable. The NBS therefore expects plans for bus priority on roads where there is a frequent bus service, traffic congestion, and the physical space to install it. Bus lanes should be as continuous as they need to be, and have the hours of operation they need to have, to insulate buses from delays caused by traffic congestion and parked vehicles. The Plan for Drivers confirms that this means bus lanes should be provided only where they are needed and should operate only when buses are running or when traffic is heavy enough to cause delays to buses. Bus priority measures should be developed with full consideration of the impacts on other road users. [Our emphasis]

Local Transport Note 1/24: Bus User Priority, Dft, March 2024

Harper has issued, through the DfT, an Open call for evidence – Restricting the generation of surplus funds from traffic contraventions.

In theory, increasing the hours during which private motorists can use bus lanes “will prevent drivers being hit with unfair fines.”

On closer inspection the guidance on the hours of operation of bus lanes might seem somewhat illogical.

• When general motor traffic is light, the existence of a parallel bus lane will make no difference to the progress of general motor traffic.
• When general motor traffic is heavy, the existence of the bus lane will impede the progress of general motor traffic, but allow buses to continue on their journeys, unimpeded and speedier than a private car.
• If the aim of bus lane ANPR cameras were to maximise revenue for the relevant highway/transport authority, rather than to deter misuse of the bus lane, having variable hours of operation of bus lanes, not only across the country, but within the same local authority would achieve this end.
• to achieve consistency of respect for bus lanes when they are needed, 24/7 operation may be desirable. This would also achieve the aim of minimising penalty charges for infractions.

---

Might the ‘Law of Unintended Consequences’ come into play?

Some roads on which buses operate 24/7 might carry heavy traffic from a city centre to a motorway or an airport, day and night. Other roads may only be busy at office commuting and school-run times, whilst the peak commuting hours on some routes might overlap with shopping journeys. In some areas, Saturday and Sunday tourist visitors might cause more congestion than weekday traffic.

Imagine the close attention to the minutiae of bus lane signage, and to the clock, required of the diligent private car driver wishing to comply with the regulations and to avoid penalties around these (hypothetical) streets:

• Dover Street – 24/7 operation
• Folkestone Road – Mon-Fri 7am-10 am, 4pm-7pm
• Newhaven Boulevard – Mon-Sat 7 am-9am
• Portsmouth Road – Daily 7am-7pm
• Southampton Avenue – Mon-Fri 8am-6pm; Sat 9am-7pm
• Poole Road – Mon-Fri 7am-9:30am, 3:30pm-5pm; Sat 10am-6pm: Sun 10:30am-5:30pm
• Plymouth Avenue – (Sign faded, try guessing)

Unfortunately, the current obsession with resisting the (non-existent) ‘war on motorists’ potentially delivers this kind of illogical nonsense.

See: The war on motorists: the secret history of a myth as old as cars themselves, Peter Walker, The Guardian, Thu 28 Sep 2023

Your comments are welcome.