The petition of the residents of the United Kingdom,
Declares that the Freewheelers is a voluntary organisation which transports essential supplies across the Birmingham and the Black Country as requested by the NHS and notes that the Freewheelers are not permitted to use designated bus lanes.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to consider permitting Freewheeler volunteers to use designated bus lanes to ensure that essential health equipment and materials can be delivered quickly.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Valerie Vaz, Official Report, 1 October 2019; Vol. 664, c. 1190.]
[P002525]
Observations from The Minister of State, Department for Transport (George Freeman):
Extending bus lane exemptions to include other vehicles, such as those delivering NHS supplies, is not a matter of national policy. This is a decision for each local authority to make when deciding on the vehicles that can use their bus lanes.
Traffic authorities have a statutory responsibility to provide traffic management schemes for their roads (under Section 122 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984) and are free to make their own decisions about the streets under their care, provided they take account of the relevant legislation. Bus lanes are provided to give buses priority over other traffic, particularly at congested times of the day, and to provide bus passengers with a more reliable service.
Traffic signs in bus lanes reflect the conditions of a traffic regulation order (TRO) made by the local authority and show which types of vehicles are allowed to use them. Buses and pedal cycles are the default types, but authorities can decide to allow other vehicles such as hackney carriages or motorcycles to use the lanes.
As well as these exceptions which are shown on the traffic sign, the TRO will usually include some unsigned exemptions. These typically apply to services which have an agreement with the authority that they may use the bus lane, such as the emergency services, when responding to a call, the postal service and refuse collection services.
Local authorities are best placed to judge how bus lanes operate on their road networks. If the Freewheelers would like this to be implemented in the Birmingham and the black country areas, they should contact the relevant highways authorities, such as Birmingham City Council and Wolverhampton City Council, with their views.