Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has conducted or commissioned research on the effect of limiting bus lane access on speed of traffic flow.

The Department has not carried out any recent assessment of the impact of bus lanes on traffic flow. However, in 2004 we published ‘Bus Priority: The Way Ahead (Resource Pack Edition 2)’ which was the final report of a 4-year research project comprising the analysis of case studies about bus priority projects on UK roads.

Provision of bus priority facilities, including bus lanes, are for the relevant local authority. Assessment and monitoring of the impact of bus lanes on traffic is for the authority concerned to carry out. In relation to Manchester, the responsible authority is Transport for Greater Manchester.