Vorpal wrote:But that is a traffic flow improvement that favours buses, rather than priority.
Ah OK. I think I see what you mean. But it is still potentially a good thing to have, yes?
Vorpal wrote:But that is a traffic flow improvement that favours buses, rather than priority.
StephenW wrote:Vorpal wrote:But that is a traffic flow improvement that favours buses, rather than priority.
Ah OK. I think I see what you mean. But it is still potentially a good thing to have, yes?
thirdcrank wrote:IMO, an underlying problem in this country is that both elected councillors and highwaymen AKA appointed officials tend to see maximisation of motor traffic capacity as the priority. This often means that provision for cyclists and buses is aimed at getting them out of the road.
eg bus lanes which often end just before traffic lights.
Pete Owens wrote:It is neither useful in terms of priority nor desirable in terms of safety to take bus lanes all the way to junctions.
In terms of safety it is important for vehicles to approach the junction in the correct lane for the direction they are heading. Any left turning vehicles need to approach in the left hand lane - otherwise you end up with streams of traffic crossing each other though the junction inevitably resulting in crashes.
Pete Owens wrote:In terms of buses making progress it is not in their interest to cause delays to other traffic, just to be able to overtake the existing queues.
Pete Owens wrote:If you take the bus lane all the way to the lights you are reducing the capacity of the junction by 50%.
Pete Owens wrote:And while probably for most of us contributing to this forum this is of-itself a desirable end, it is counter-productive in terms of keeping buses moving. As soon as vehicles start arriving at a junction at a higher rate than that junction capacity then a queue will start to form. This is no problem so long as the queue is shorter than the bus lane, but halving the capacity will mean the queue will build up very rapidly. As soon as it extends beyond the start of the bus lane then the buses will get delayed by the congestion caused by the bus lane.
mjr wrote:Pete Owens wrote:It is neither useful in terms of priority nor desirable in terms of safety to take bus lanes all the way to junctions.
In terms of safety it is important for vehicles to approach the junction in the correct lane for the direction they are heading. Any left turning vehicles need to approach in the left hand lane - otherwise you end up with streams of traffic crossing each other though the junction inevitably resulting in crashes.
Far from being inevitable, you simply avoid it by not allowing the left-turn phase green until after the buses have got through.
Bmblbzzz wrote:What about other vehicles in the bus lane? Taxis, motorcycles, and of course pedal cycles, might be others too in some places. And what about junctions without traffic lights? Either the bus lane becomes a left-turn lane just before every side road and then starts again, or it needs to be continuous and turning traffic has to give way to traffic in the bus lane.
StephenW wrote:What about bus lanes in the middle of the road, rather than at the kerbside?
StephenW wrote:
What about bus lanes in the middle of the road, rather than at the kerbside?
Bmblbzzz wrote:And what about junctions without traffic lights? Either the bus lane becomes a left-turn lane just before every side road and then starts again, or it needs to be continuous and turning traffic has to give way to traffic in the bus lane. The first is probably safer, especially for cyclists and motorcyclists, the second is probably better in terms of bus priority.