ROADS AS "PEOPLE MOVERS": THE REAL CASE FOR BUS PRIORITY

The first bus lane in London was introduced 30 years ago. There are now over 500, plus other measures such as 'bus-only' streets, exemptions for buses from banned turns and bus priority at traffic signals. Schemes are processed through various initiatives such as the Priority (Red) Route Networks (PRN) and the London Bus Priority Network (LBPN). Nevertheless the rate of increase in traffic congestion across the whole of London's bus network continues to outstrip the benefits of bus priority. The paper examines the current initiatives and discusses where they fail to give buses the required level of priority and protection from traffic congestion. The fundamental conclusion is the need for a radical change in our assessment of road capacity, especially in Central London and other strategic centres. Current assessments based on vehicle capacity often rule out bus priority at key locations; there is a clear need to move towards 'people-moving' capacity measurements, in line with current policies to develop sustainable transport. For the covering abstract, see IRRD E101115.