TABLE OF CONTENTS Public transport priority has to be seen in the context of an overall urban transport strategy with objectives which include not only improved bus (or tram) operation and restraint of car-borne commuting but also an enhanced environment for residents, workers and visitors. Measures proposed must serve all these objectives and yet also be demonstrably cost-effective and enforceable.
Typical design objectives for public transport priority measures include:
to improve the conditions and reliability of bus operations through the introduction of appropriate bus priority measures;
to alter the traffic balance in favour of buses at those locations where this can be properly justified;
to improve conditions for bus passengers at stops and interchanges;
to improve road safety generally and, in particular, for pedestrians, cyclists and people with disabilities;
to review, where appropriate, hours of operation of waiting and loading restrictions;
to establish and implement the co-ordinated and coherent application of waiting, parking and loading enforcement regimes on bus route corridors;
to improve conditions for all road users and frontagers on bus route corridors.
Achieving these objectives often involves compromises between improving bus operation and the needs of local businesses and residents for reasonable access and of pedestrians and cyclists for safe and convenient movement.
Bus priority measures should be seen as part of the tool kit that will enable the realisation of the transport strategy. The impact of these measures on bus operation can be powerful, yet that impact should not be exaggerated. On their own, bus priority measures...
