Exclusive: London-style red routes may replace bus lanes

LIVERPOOL'S disappearing bus lanes could be replaced with London-style red routes, with motorists facing stiff penalties for stopping their cars for a second. 

It is one of the proposals being actively considered as part of Mayor Joe Anderson’s plan to remove all of Liverpool’s 24 buses lanes for a nine-month long experiment. 

First (Joe Anderson) visits a local park and sees it isn’t used very much, so decides to sell it. Then he drives past a bus lane and sees it isn’t used very much, so decides to scrap them all'

It comes in the wake of new figures* which reveal Liverpool drivers coughed up almost £6 million for straying into a handful of bus lanes between 2009 and now. 

Most of the penalties came from the few city routes with enforcement cameras to capture wrongdoers. 

Yet despite the decision to scrap the bus lanes, a move that could become permanent next year, there will be no amnesty for drivers already caught on cameras. Offenders have been told collection of penalties will continue, with debt enforcement if necessary.

Meanwhile, the area managing director of Arriva has written to all 90 city councillors after Mayor Joe's announcement that bus lanes would be scrapped, complaining of a “lack of consultation” (Full letter in link at the end of this piece.

If a decision is made to restore all or some of the bus lanes after the trial period, the council is also considering HOV lanes. These allow high occupancy vehicles, such as cars with passengers, to use exclusive lanes.

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In some places this has led to an increase in sales of blow-up dolls, placed in passenger seats to give the impression of loaded vehicles.

The introduction of red routes would ban cars stopping for even a second. These are popular on major routes into London to keep traffic moving.

Although there is a short red route on the approach to Liverpool John Lennon Airport, the wide use of these would be new to Liverpool.

Near the Peel-owned airport it was introduced by the council to deter those motorists wishing to avoid sky high parking charges from dropping off passengers close to the entrance.

Because of the lengthy legal process for both red and HOV routes, the city council will be seeking permission from the Department for Transport concurrent with the bus lane closure trial. This will enable red routes to be brought in quickly if that is the solution to gridlock problems.

Green councillor John Coyne is unhappy with the decision to scrap bus lanes and plans to delay the experiment by calling in the Mayor’s proposal.

Under council procedures, the call-in ability could be overridden, and as the council cabinet meets this Friday to give the final decision, it is hard to see the scheme being delayed at this stage.

Said Cllr Coyne: “Scrapping bus lanes is a bad idea, a backward step in a world which is seeing cities looking at sustainable public transport arrangements.

“What I find scary is we are seeing decision making on the whim of the Mayor. First he visits a local park (the Meadowlands) and sees it isn’t used very much, so decides to sell it.

“Then he drives past a bus lane and sees it isn’t used very much, so decides to scrap them all. It seems a strange way to run a city.”

He added: “What we need is a smarter way of using cars. Scrapping of the bus lanes will not remove the peak town congestion by creating more road space. It will merely create more cars to take up the extra space.”

High Occupancy Vehicle lanesMayor Anderson believes bus lanes are not working as they ought to. Despite their introduction bus usage is going down year by year. In 2005, 82 percent of public transport journeys in Merseyside were made by bus, and within four years it was down to 78 percent  At the same time passenger levels on Merseyrail have increased by 50 percent.

It will cost the city council £50,000 to remove the bus lane signs and mask the bus lane signage in roadways.

*Compiled for the council’s Transport and Climate Change Committee, which meets on Wednesday (Sept 25)

*Read the full letter from Arriva Area Managing Director John Farrall here