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An advance sign to
warn there is a bus lane ahead and give you time to change lanes. This should
be cited 30m in advance of the taper where the speed limit is 30mph and 45m in
advance where it is over 30mph (see
below1) | |
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A sign at the start
of the lane (ie the commencement of the thick white line) |
|
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Repeater signs at
regular intervals (approximately every 300m) and after every
side road. | |
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If you enter the road
with the bus lane from a side road you may see one of these signs. Ensure the
hours of operation (if any) are the same as those on the main road. |
3. Roadmarkings
|
 |
A bus lane should be
commenced by a diagonal taper in the form of a dashed line approximately 30m
long to give drivers time to change lane (see
below2) |
|
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It must be denoted
by a thick solid white line. | |
 |
The words ‘Bus Lane’
should be written at the start of the lane and at at regular intervals (approximately
every 300m) and/or at the commencement of every side road.
Please note there is NO requirement for red surfacing. |
|
4. The Design of Signs
The
start and repeater bus lane signs should look like one of these pictures. The
word ‘taxi’ may be added and the bus symbol should show either a full bus or a
bus with the word ‘local’ written in it. Any other variation is invalid unless
it has specific DfT approval. Hours of operation can be added underneath. The
same rules apply to the advance bus lane sign. |
 
  |
5. Traffic Order
Each
bus lane must be covered by a Traffic
Order which stipulates the exact location of the lane and its hours
of operation and this must match the signs.
No
traffic order means the bus lane cannot be enforced and is grounds for appeal.
Any difference between the hours or days of operation on the traffic order compared
to the signs is also grounds for appeal. Traffic orders are public documents and
can be viewed by contacting the relevant local authority.
Summary
of the Regulations
Click
on the diagram below to see a summary of the signing and roadmarking requirements
of a bus lane. To produce this summary the sign details have been taken from the
Traffic
Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD) 2002
and the general layout from
Chapter 3 (for signs) and
Chapter 5
(for roadmarkings) of
the Traffic Signs Manual. Please note though
that the latter documents are guidance only.
You
can cross a bus lane to enter into a private access. However you may not drive
up a bus lane to turn left, even for a short distance. You can only enter the
lane to turn left into a side road where the solid white line ends.
Click
on Image for larger picture
Examples
of Non Compliant Bus Lanes
When
writing an appeals letter, simply mentioning the fact that for instance the sign
is missing (with photos as evidence) would suffice. However in these examples,
the text refers to the full legislation. There is no need to do this but it does
show that you know what you're talking about. Also bear in mind that some of the
staff dealing with appeals will not understand the legislation themselves, so
quoting it may save the hassle of an appeal having to go to the adjudicator.
|
This bus lane has
no sign at its start |
Text
for an appeals letter: | |
 |
This bus lane is unenforceable
as it does not have a sign to diagram 959 at the start in accordance with
the Traffic
Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002. |
|
Wrong bus symbol |
Text
for an appeals letter: | |
 |
The signs for this
bus lane do
not comply with the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002 as the
bus symbol is not a permitted variant of diagram 959. | In
the example below, a bus lane in Fortess Road, Camden had to be changed because
of this situation. Hundreds of drivers paid fines when caught on cctv, unaware
of this discrepancy before an eagle eyed motorist informed the local paper.
|
Incorrect roadmarkings |
Text
for an appeals letter: | |
 |
The roadmarkings for
this bus lane do
not comply with the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002.
The words bus and cycle lane are only permitted for contra flow, not normal with
flow bus lanes as specified in
diagram
1048.1. |
|
Incorrect design |
Text
for an appeals letter: | |
 |
The word 'taxi' on
this sign is underneath rather than 'alongside' the cycle symbol, and is thus
not a permitted variant of diagram 959 |
|
Is
the design of this sign legal? One for the adjudicators to decide........ |
Text
for an appeals letter: | |
 |
The design of this
sign does not conform with diagrams 959 and 961 from the Traffic
Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002. The cycle symbol is in the wrong
location and the phrase 'Any day' is
not a permitted variant. |
Bus Only Streets
and Bus Gates
In
London bus only streets must be enforced under a
different act (London
Local Authorities and Transport for London Act 2003).
Ensure your ticket has been issued under this act (check
the top of the ticket) and click
here to ensure it complies with
the law. Brent were enforcing under the wrong
act and issued over 21,000 tickets illegally.
Outside London they can be enforced under the same act
as normal bus lanes.
Section 144(5) of the Transport Act 2000
states:
(5)And an area of road is or forms part of a
bus lane if the order provides that it may
be used—
(a)only by buses (or a particular
description of bus), or
(b)only by buses (or a particular
description of bus) and some other class or
classes of vehicular traffic.
A
bus only street should have one of the sign
combinations shown below. Below this are
shown the details from the
Traffic Signs Regulations and General
Directions which govern their requirements, permitted
variants etc (explanation of the regs
here)
  
It
is also essential that adequate advance warning is given for a bus
only street to prevent motorists inadvertently entering it.
Otherwise it is obviously too late once you
pass one of the above signs. More
information on this
can be found on page 140 of the DfT guidance
document
Chapter 3 of the Traffic Signs Manual.
What constitutes adequate
advance warning is subjective
so if you feel it was insufficient or obscured, take photos and appeal on this basis.
Bus
Only
Roadmarkings also required as
per below (bus or bus and cycle depending on sign)
No Entry Except buses
No roadmarkings required
 
No Motor Vehicles
No roadmarkings required
In accordance with
Direction 8 from the TSRGD,
the above signs should be on both sides of the road except where:
(i) traffic proceeding on another road on which it is
permitted to proceed only in one direction turns into the
relevant road; or
(ii) the carriageway of the relevant road is less than 5
metres wide and the sign is so placed that its centre is
within 2 metres of the edge of the carriageway.
Examples
of Non Compliant Bus Only Streets
|
Missing sign (leeds) |
Text
for an appeals letter: | |
 |
The signs
delineating this bus gate do not conform with the TSRGD 2002. Sign 953 must be
accompanied by sign 953.2 "only" as per direction 20. As my photos show this is
not the case. Hence I trust the PCN will be cancelled |
|
Wrong text (Bodiam
Way Brent) |
Text
for an appeals letter: | |
 |
The
roadmarking delineating this bus
only street does not conform with the TSRGD
2002. "Buses"
only is a not a permitted variant of diagram 1048.3 | | 
