BUS LANES & BUS GATES –


Article by Dave Lawrie, Director NPHTA 0161 280 2800


info@nphta.co.uk Duty to respond! Who is allowed to enter these areas?


We have sent a freedom of information request to all local authorities asking for the number of bus lanes and gates, whether they allow private hire vehicles, and what signage they are using to make the restrictions clear. To say the responses have been poor, would be an understatement. To those that have responded, thank you, to those that have not; remember, you have a legal duty to respond under the Freedom of Information Act, we may turn a blind eye occasionally, but we will not accept repetitive failures to respond.


What is the problem?


When private hire vehicles are excluded from roads, the journey and therefore the cost to the passenger, is massively increased. The council that has imposed such a condition is to blame, the passenger is the financial victim of such a decision, but the driver is the physical victim, as this leads to arguments over the increased fares and sometimes drivers being attacked. Those attacks are directly the fault of the council that decided to impose such no go areas.


Bus lane versus bus gate, what is the difference?


A bus lane is a dedicated lane that runs alongside an existing carriageway (road) that excludes other road users from entering that lane, in order to ease traffic flow for bus travel. A bus gate creates a complete no entry zone, these tend to be more around city centres.


Why are these lanes and gates introduced?


We are seeing many more bus lanes and bus gates popping up all over the UK, excluding private hire vehicles from using them, or travelling along them. The reason for such limited access is to allow for ease of traffic flow for public transport, allowing


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Most signage will say “bus, cycle and taxi only” which means that private hire vehicles are not allowed to make use of those areas.


You might remember this being discussed when we were writing about signage on EV charging points, where a council tried to suggest that the word taxi, means taxi and PHV, but only when it suited them, for a cheaper sign on the charging points, but not for bus lane use.


Some may say “bus, cycle, taxi and authorised vehicles”, which may then allow for locally licensed private hire vehicles if registered with the local authority in question.


Some go further to say “locally licensed” whilst others may clearly say “and private hire vehicles”.


So as you can see, there is no uniform approach, no national standard, making it very confusing for all. We see daily questions all over social media asking: “Can I use a bus lane here?” The answer is, the only way to know for sure is to search for that council’s Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) and try to find the information for that particular council, which is all very confusing.


Taxi and private hire – what is the difference?


A taxi, (hackney carriage plated vehicle) can make use of taxi ranks and be flagged down on any street whilst within their licensed area, and can accept their own bookings from any source, be that a phone call, or a private hire operator.


A PHV may only respond to bookings that are made through a private hire operator, licensed by the same council as the badge and plates (the triple lock of three licence rule).


There is a slight difference here between English and Scottish legislation, since for Scotland, a


APRIL 2023 PHTM


such vehicles to navigate more efficiently through traffic, in order to reduce congestion. This is also intended to promote the use of buses, cycles and taxis, since the intention is to get to your destination with as little hold ups or congestion as possible.


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