Bus Lanes provide faster passage for buses and provide extra road space for cyclists. Nottingham City Council has introduced around 17km of them and they are a part of an integrated transport strategy that has seen public transport use increase by 8% in recent years, whilst car traffic has stabilised, even though there are more people in work.
Most bus lanes are "tidal", coming into force during the morning rush hour for inbound services and on the outbound for the evening rush hour.
There are some 24 hour bus lanes, essentially on routes where bus usage is high and extra protection for cyclists is an important concern.
There's also a long established 24 hour bus lane on Mansfield Road opposite the Forest Recreation Ground, helping lime, purple, yellow and brown NCT services.
The inbound bus lane at the bottom of Woodborough Road is also 24 hours so as to make it safer for pedestrians to cross, particularly at the entrance to Huntingdon School. This lane helps red NCT services.
Tidal bus lanes exist on Mansfield Road - alongside Mapperley Park - helping lime and purple NCT services; and on Carlton Road, helping lilac NCT services.
Respect for bus lanes by car drivers is actually quite high - indeed people often resopect tidal bus lanes as if they were in force for the full 24 hours. But it's not difficult to spot drivers who disregard them, and new powers and technology will soon be in place to enforce the lanes more effectively, so that the road network works fairly for all.
One unexpected benefit of bus lanes is the smoother running it can bring to other lanes. For instance, car journey times into the city along Mansfield Road actually fell with the most recent change, because drivers were less inclined to change between lanes at short notice (which reduces other traffic braking sharply and thus affecting the flow of the overall traffic).
[Last updated 2007-01-28]
Wednesday, 4 July 2001 Bus lanes boosts No. 58 Mark Fowles, the new Chief Executive has announced that the number of passengers using the No. 58 (running between Nottingham and Arnold along Mansfield Road) has grown by 32% in the last 2 years. Mark puts the increase down largely to the introduction of more bus lanes on Mansfield Road alongside Mapperley Park. Mark says that the surveys being run to plan the NCT's new bus network to start in September, have found people walking greater distances to use the No. 58 cos of its new found speed, reliability & certainty. The aim of the new network will be to increase the bus' modal share in Nottingham. Currently at 39% (high compared to Leeds at 32% and Liverpool at 26%), the aim is to break through the 40% barrier. Meanwhile, more bus lanes are planned for the section of Mansfield Road, north of Woodthorpe Drive, currently managed by the Highways Agency, but soon to be taken over by the County Council.
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