Bus-only lanes were dreamt up to allow buses to bypass traffic jams. The aim was to help buses keep to their timetables and thereby improve the service that they offer.
Bus-only lanes make excellent sense in areas with heavy traffic and significant delays caused by congestion. However, it has been suggested that they have been introduced in some cases for other reasons. It has even been suggested that some were introduced in order to raise revenue, rather than to improve journey times.
This has now become a national issue, with the Conservative Party stating that, if elected, they would scrap all 24/7 bus lanes unless a government minister provides specific written permission for them to remain open.
In the Nene Herald area, we have several bus-only lanes.
One such lane is in the centre of Wellingborough, in front of the Hind Hotel. This one is unusual, in that even buses occasionally avoid it!
Amazingly, buses can sometimes get through the Town centre faster by crossing over into the ‘other’ lane. We have seen buses do this a number of times but not been able to photograph it as we were always driving at the time.
Nene Herald would like to hear the opinions of the readers about this bus-only lane.
