Bus lanes solely for buses?

[BSRU]

there was a legalese change to driver licensing after someone succesfully challenged that a PSV wasn't required if there were no fare paying passengers eg shopper buses run by supermarkets and some school owned buses.

the change was to PCV passenger carrying vehicle rather than public service vehicle.

and royal mail do have POSTbuses , but generally in the Ahole of nowhere like the highlands , although Swindon does fall into the Ahole of nowhere category

Certain versions of the van in question can have upto nine passenger seats and therefore can be classed as bus, but I can see it does not, it has five passenger seats at most.

Swindon is generally regarded as the Ahole of Wiltshire as it ruins all the crime statistics and is like most towns full of mobile phone shops, nail salons and generic shops.

 

[sheddy]

Ask her when she last cycled on the road and take it from there.
When she says 'too dangerous' ask her 'why is that' ?

 

[subaqua]

Ask her when she last cycled on the road and take it from there.
When she says 'too dangerous' ask her 'why is that' ?

random

 

[ufkacbln]

I used to have great fun with a senior colleague.

I was well known as a cyclist and he used to make snide comments in the staff room.

One example was commenting on the fact that I didn't use a cycle path, the classic road tax, the use of lighting etc.

Used to just smile and reply... "I'm surprised that you are unaware of....." and then evidence with DfT guidelines, IAM fact sheets or similar the following day, always in print and always in front of witnesses.

Best part though was one day when he claimed I had been "All over the road" and in his way. I challenged if he would like to see it from my point of view.

Got out head cam, and showed the staff room how I had been travelling in a straight line, in primary when he overtoook very closely and cut me up at a central reservation.

The looks he got from the other staff shut him up and he never criticised again.

 

[goo_mason]

Ta.

Turns out the bus lane in question ISN'T bus-only; I checked it tonight. Idiot can't even read the signs properly - I'm either going to stop & take pics of the signs with my phone or go over, sit with her in front of all her colleagues and ask her to have a wee peek at the signage on Google StreetView. I may then suggest that she needs to visit Specsavers...

If she starts again I'm also going to ask her what she'd do if someone threatened her two young kids, if they were out on their bikes, with the kind of violent behaviour that she was advocating towards me / other cyclists. I'm sure she'll come out with the 'I'd never let my kids cycle on the roads because it's dangerous' line, to which I can then counter with "it's only dangerous when there are people with your attitude behind the wheel causing the danger"

 

[semislickstick]

If a bus lane doesn't have a sign saying that it can also be used by taxis and bikes, does this mean it's illegal for us to use it?

Newly discovered rabid anti-cyclist colleague at work was whining at me this morning because 'you cyclists shouldn't be using the bus lanes' (yet when we're not in them, we apparently deserve everything we get (close passes, side-swipes and assaults) because there's no way anyone should let any cyclist dictate the speed of the traffic which gets stuck behind them). Similar punishment should be meted out to any cyclist on the road when there's a perfectly good off-road cycle lane alongside.
To think I've got on with this person for the last 11 years and only now does this other side show! I thought she was on a wind-up at first, but it slowly became apparent that she wasn't...

She sounds lovely. Daily Mail reader?

She'd be up for violence towards her or her car every time she pavement parks, speeds...or does anything legal but slightly annoying then. How's her parallel parking and 3 point turns? Enough to block the road for more than 20 seconds? Bah-humbug.

 

[400bhp]

She sounds lovely. Daily Mail reader?

Aye

Low IQ. Where do you work?

 

[Brains]

depends if it has been registered with DVLA as a bus.

some older Landrovers benefit from this. also makes them CC exelpt too. Loads of little loopholes for things if you look hard enough.

As an owner of a Landy I'm aware of that loophole, and that as of 1 Jan next year Boris has plugged it as 'Minibusses' will have to meet the new emmissions standards. So for 12 seater Landy owners to get around that loophole you need to remove some seats to become a 'car' in which case as a car you can not go in bus lanes

 

[Brains]

In SE London in Catford we have a gyratory at Rushey Green. Buses use a lane which bypass this and of which only buses are allowed.
It has the blue bus roundel along with another sign underneath saying 'Only'

The LCC & other Local Cycling groups have been trying to get this changed so that cyclists can use it, as the gyratory can be lethal. However TFL are not budging as the lane is enclosed by ironwork leaving no room for a get out if there is a bus/cyclist coming together, which is fair enough. However they also refuse to remove said ironwork either to make it safe for cyclists.

This does not stop the majority of cyclists using the lane. Something like 90% use the lane rather then the gyratory.

So... if it doesn't have a sign saying otherwise.. then it's for use by cyclists imo

RIP cyclist Sue Godfrey

 

[goo_mason]

She sounds lovely. Daily Mail reader?

She'd be up for violence towards her or her car every time she pavement parks, speeds...or does anything legal but slightly annoying then. How's her parallel parking and 3 point turns? Enough to block the road for more than 20 seconds? Bah-humbug.

The thing is she's a lovely woman - known her for almost 11 years now and a kinder, cheerier, chattier, more thoughtful person you couldn't wish to meet. That's why yesterday's conversation has thrown me completely! You can obviously never really know some people, even after a decade! She obviously has a disturbingly low opinion of cyclists - maybe a childhood trauma is at the root of the issue?!

 

[Bigsharn]

This one is bus only, there's a cycle lane that's about 3ft wide on the pavement (seperate from the road) that twists and turns all over the place with stupid obstructions planted in the middle and people still wonder why I cycle in the road...

 

[potnoodle]

Ian

I ride home via this and when i started i was unsure if i was aloud to ride it or not.

On about my 2nd trip home i spotter a PCO or what ever they are called so i stopped and asked him if i was ok to ride the bus lane .. His answer was YES.

I was still in not sure if this is true or not so take the longer way around by the McDoanlds. I am glad i ignored him after reading what you have just added.

I also think it is a little on the hairy side taking the correct road.

Potnoodle.

In SE London in Catford we have a gyratory at Rushey Green. Buses use a lane which bypass this and of which only buses are allowed.
It has the blue bus roundel along with another sign underneath saying 'Only'

The LCC & other Local Cycling groups have been trying to get this changed so that cyclists can use it, as the gyratory can be lethal. However TFL are not budging as the lane is enclosed by ironwork leaving no room for a get out if there is a bus/cyclist coming together, which is fair enough. However they also refuse to remove said ironwork either to make it safe for cyclists.

This does not stop the majority of cyclists using the lane. Something like 90% use the lane rather then the gyratory.

So... if it doesn't have a sign saying otherwise.. then it's for use by cyclists imo

 

[Bromptonaut]

Theres a short bus only lane at the end of Black Lion Hill in Northampton.
Bikes are ment to cut onto a shared use pavement.
But my trike + trailer wont fit on the pavement section of the cycle route, so I stay on the road.
Its ok going west-east as the traffic lights work with a bike that way.
Going east-west is another matter.
My trike won't change the lights.
Plus to get a bus to change the lights when stuck behind me, I need to edge forward across the ped crossing, blocking it, untill I can only just see the lights.
Only then the bus is far enough forward to trigger the lights.

Luck .............

The designer of that junction should have been smothered at birth. As well as being a pita on a bike cars can no longer turn right from St Andrew's Road into Black Lion Hill. So if you exit the railway station LS car park and want to go down to Sixfields you're forced onto the congested Weedon Road and cannot, without a diversion, use the relief roadd they bult to reduce congestion on Weedon Road.

Couldn't make it up!!!!

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

RIP cyclist Sue Godfrey

Off topic, but Sue Godfrey lived on the same estate as I still do. Quite by chance, I cycled along the same route as her on the day she died only a couple of hours later - the left-turning lorry was still there with all the ''do not cross'' tape. She wasn't on the gyratory though - she died at the junction of Thomas Lane and Catford Road (S Circular).

We still have a garden and a ''nature park'' dedicated to her.

 

[subaqua]

here was me thinking we have a national legislation for road signs.

oh yes we do.

http://www.direct.go...signs/index.htm

http://www.dft.gov.u...tsmchapter3.pdf

section 15.2 of chapter 3 of the traffic signs manual. (also handy to reference when illegal parking tickets have been issued - yellow lines must follow legislation to be legal, otherwise they bare just a lot of yellow paint on a road )

specifically referenced by the traffic sign regulations and general diretions.

for thos ewho don't want to download the pdf i copy the relevant text

15.2​

​

​

​

Bus lanes may be either with-flow or​

contra-flow. With-flow bus lanes on the left hand​

side of the carriageway are always available to both​

buses and pedal cycles; it is not considered safe to​

force cyclists to use the general traffic lane where​

they would be confined between two streams of​

motor traffic. There might, however, be situations​

where a with-flow lane leads directly to a bus-only​

facility that is not available to pedal cycles (e.g. a​

bus-only gate or the entrance to a bus station). In​

these circumstances, where the bus lane excludes​

cyclists, traffic signs will need the Department’s​

authorisation. A with-flow bus lane may be used​

by taxis (hackney carriages) where permitted by the​

order. A contra-flow bus lane is generally used by​

buses only, but pedal cycles may also use the lane​

where permitted by the order.



The bold bit shows that a cycles prohibited sign or an "except cycles" box will be needed.


exceptions are contra flow lanes where the cycle sign can be added if the local highways department has authorised the use of the bus lane for cycles