London Driving - Can I use ALL bus lanes?

I can't work out which ones I'm allowed to use or is it all of them?

[Viney]

No. As a rule the only one that you can use are RED ROUTE bus lanes, and these are marked on the blue bus lane boards

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by krhall

I can't work out which ones I'm allowed to use or is it all of them?

Nope, you need to look at EVERY sign at the start of the Bus Lane, for example, coming up the A24 you are allowed in the 1st 3 bus lane sections then prohibited, so its yet ANOTHER thing you need to watch apart from the road.....

Basically if its on a Red Route then it should be ok (TfL controlled, hence under Boris's control).

If its just yellow lines, then thats Local Authority controlled, so not usuall Biker Friendly.

[timwilky]

ok, that is even more confusing for a non londoner, wtf is a red route or yellow line?


The only yellow round here is to tell parkers they are ok to ignore parking restrictions as that is where they dump cages

As if riding a bike you are not used to and commuting into Central London isn't enough to contend with.......I thought all of them were game on. No wonder I was the only bike in them last night through Jamaica Road - Rotherhithe. Whoooops!

[Ch00]

Red Routes are roads that have red lines near the kerbs. These are operated by Transport for London. Most of "their" bus lanes are open to motorbikes but check the bus lane signs. If theres no bike on the sign don't use it unless its outside the bus lane times.

Yellow lines are run by the local council militia.

Ch00

[Ch00]

Originally Posted by krhall

No wonder I was the only bike in them last night through Jamaica Road - Rotherhithe. Whoooops!

I thought that was ok now, will check it out later.

Ch00

[Spiderman]

Be vigilant cos event tho i ride in london everyday and have done for years now i still got caught out by this alst week and had a nice £60 fine drop on my doormat for riding in a section of bus lane thats no longer than about 30meters

i'm appealing it so wish me luck

[Ch00]

Theres a bit like that near the roundabout by Walworth Road. Seems silly and pointless but hey thats TFL for you!!

Ch00

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by krhall

As if riding a bike you are not used to and commuting into Central London isn't enough to contend with.......I thought all of them were game on. No wonder I was the only bike in them last night through Jamaica Road - Rotherhithe. Whoooops!

Doesn't mean you were in the wrong - most part-time bus lanes are empty even out of hours of operation - people see the BUS LANE paint and assume that is always a bus lane - the penalty for getting the hours wrong is way too high.

I rode from Oval to Streatham the other day outwith the A23 bus lane times and was the only vehicle (other than buses) in them, despite the lanes being available to all traffic.

Part-time Bus Lanes ADD to congestion in my opinion, Buses cant use them during commuting time because they are filled with cycles and then when they are not in operation they STILL take up 50% of the available road space and leave it unusable due to fear of fines/the fact that a part time lane can go from part-time to full-time just by crossing a junction.