Since Mayor Boris Johnson proposed his scheme to to allow motorbikes in bus lanes on red routes, ICAG have been campaigning against the proposal. We feel that the scheme is putting the lives of vulnerable road users at risk for limited benefits. We would prefer to see measures that genuinely address road safety such as a greater user of 20mph (and slower) speed limits, and road traffic policing being made a greater priority.
Throughout the summer and autumn we collected a local petition of 300 signatures opposing the scheme. We have also worked with local councillors to introduce a cross party motion condemning the proposal. Go to http://www.cyclingcouncillor.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=126 for more details on the motion.
On the date the scheme went live some of our members were out alerting cyclists to the new scheme.
We also carried out a series of counts before and after the scheme went live at the junction of Holloway Road and Hornsey Road. We counted cyclists and powered two wheelers in the bus lane and in the ASL.
As expected there were more motorbikes in the bus lane after the introduction. Gratifyingly there did not seem to be a decline in the numbers cycling. However we were disappointed at the number of motorbikes and other motor vehicles illegally entering the ASL. Look at our Road Danger Reduction campaigh pages for more on this.
In the meantime the campaign to monitor motorbikes in bus lanes continues. Visit http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=1250 for more details.