A bus lane in Mannheim, Germany

A bus lane in Athens, Greece.

A bus lane or bus only lane is a lane on a road restricted to buses, and generally used to speed up public transport otherwise held up by traffic congestions. Often taxicabs as well as high occupancy vehicles or motorcycles^[1] and even bicycles may use the bus lane as well (though these uses can be controversial, as they can reduce the capacity of the bus lane for its main function). Bus lanes are a central part of bus rapid transit measures. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2560 × 1920 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2560 × 1920 pixel, file size: 1. ... Mannheim is a city in Germany. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 438 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1678 × 2294 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 438 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1678 × 2294 pixel, file size: 1. ... This article is about the capital of Greece. ... Autobus redirects here. ... For specific countries see Taxicabs around the world. ... A permanent, separated high-occupancy vehicle lane on I-91 in Connecticut A high occupancy vehicle (or HOV) is any vehicle with a driver and one or more (or sometimes two or more, or three or more) passengers. ... For other uses, see Motorcycle (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Bicycle (disambiguation). ... This article is about high-capacity bus transit systems. ...

Function

The aim of a bus lane is to give priority to buses and save journey time in places where roads are congested with other traffic. A bus lane is not necessarily very long, as it may only be used to 'detour' a single congestion point such as an intersection. However, some cities have built large stretches of bus lanes which in some places amount to a separate local road system, often called a busway system. This article is about high-capacity bus transit systems. ...

Bus lanes are normally created when the road in question is both likely to be congested as well as heavily traveled by bus routes. Entire roads can be designated as bus lanes (such as Oxford Street in London or Fulton Street in New York City), allowing only buses, taxis and delivery vehicles, or a contra-flow bus lane can allow buses to travel in the opposite direction to other vehicles.^[2] Some bus lanes operate on certain times of the day only, usually during rush-hour, allowing all vehicles at other times, and it is common to have bus lanes in only one direction (such as for the main direction of the morning rush hour traffic, with the buses using normal lanes in the other direction). Oxford Street, with Centre Point in the background Oxford Street in 1875, looking west from the junction with Duke Street. ... Fulton Mall is a street mall in Downtown Brooklyn that runs on Fulton Street between Flatbush Avenue & Adams Street that has a lot of small bussiness witinin it along with some bigger franchises such as Foot Locker, The Sprint Store, Toys Я Us & Macys. ...

Sometimes, bus lanes may receive different sets of traffic signals as well, to allow priority at intersections. Traffic lights will sometimes differ where there are several lanes of traffic. ...

History

According to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA)^[3] and the National Transit Database (NTD),^[4] the world's first designated bus lane was created in Chicago in 1939. The American Public Transportation Association is a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that serves as an advocate for the advancement of public transportation programs and initiatives in the United States since the organizations founding in 1882. ...

The first bus lanes in Europe were established in 1962 in the German city of Hamburg.^{[citation needed]} Other large German cities soon followed, and the implementation of bus lanes was officially sanctioned in the German highway code in 1971. Many experts from other countries (among one of the first, Japan) studied the German example and then went forth to implement similar solutions in their own countries. For example, two years later (on January 15, 1964) the first bus lane in France was designated along the quai du Louvre in Paris and the first counter-flow lane was established on the old pont de l’Alma on June 15, 1966.^[5] On 26 February 1968, the first bus lane in London was put into service on Vauxhall Bridge.^{[citation needed]} By 1972, there were over 140 km of with-flow bus lanes located in 100 cities within OECD member countries, and the network was found to be growing substantially in the following decades.^[6] For other uses, see Hamburg (disambiguation). ... This article is about the capital of France. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Vauxhall bridge looking downstream from the north bank. ... The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organization of those developed countries that accept the principles of representative democracy and a free market economy. ...

The El Monte Busway between El Monte and Downtown Los Angeles was the first busway in the USA, constructed in 1974.^[7] Map of El Monte Busway. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ...

Criticism

The installation of bus lanes requires additional space to either be constructed (increasing the impact of the road on the surrounding area, and possibly requiring private land)^[8] or taken from existing lanes (thus reducing the capacity of the road for private vehicles). The latter is especially controversial with many road users when this is actually an ancillary reason (i.e. when local authorities want to explicitly combine improved public transport options with reducing or at least not improving convenience for motorists).^[9]

They can also become inefficient if weak traffic enforcement encourages illegal parking on them (for example in shopping areas). The bus then has to merge back into traffic, which may be totally stopped, causing substantial schedule delays.^{[citation needed]} They are also often used by vehicles not authorised, which reduces their capacity for the intended purpose.^[10] Parking ticket from Arlington County, Virginia Placement of parking citation from Huntington Beach, California A parking violation, parking citation, notice of illegal parking or parking ticket (depending on the jurisdiction) is a notice of monetary penalty issued for parking a motor vehicle in a restricted place or for parking in...

Major city networks

Some network lengths of bus lanes in major cities (please list areas of above 4 million population only, list sorted by population):

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See also

• Bus priority
• Guided bus
• HOV Lane
• HOT Lane
• Reversible lane

This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Adelaide O-Bahn The guide wheel of a guided bus in Mannheim, Germany A Fastway bus in the guided bus lane on Southgate Avenue, Crawley Guided buses are buses steered for part or all of their route by external means, usually on a dedicated track. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A high-occupancy toll (HOT) is a toll enacted on single-occupant vehicles who wish to use lanes or entire roads that are designated for the use of high-occupancy vehicles (HOVs, also known as carpools). ... The Lions Gate Bridge from the south end in Stanley Park, Vancouver. ...

References