On Sun, 3 Feb 2008 04:14:26 -0800 (PST), Paul Weaver
wrote:

It's rare for a bus to be faster than a cycle, even ignoring traffic
congestion, when they stop every 200 yards. Buses should be banned
from overtaking all vehicles.

Which would be plainly silly. Instead, they should be provided with a
dedicated lane in which to operate their service; this is the most
efficient way to operate them.

What's a car lane? Why aren't bikes allowed in that?

I didn't say they weren't. For the purposes of my post, "car" meant
all other traffic.

Pavement
Bus lane
Bollards to prevent buses causing congestion to normal road users
Rich people lane (taxis)
normal traffic lane
bollards
cycle lane
motorcycle lane
central reservation

The Dutch approach would be pavement-cycle lane-kerbstone-bus lane-all
other traffic, with the cycle lane usually going around the back of
the bus shelter at stops. This seems to work, but it does require the
Dutch approach to the cycle lane in that it has absolute priority over
all other traffic including when crossing side roads.

However, London roads don't really have enough space for this.

I think taxi's shouldn't be allowed in bus lanes anyway. They are used
for private transport, same as cars, but they're more expensive per
mile than a car, and therefore are used by the rich hoi-poloi.

I don't mind taxis *being* in bus lanes, but it should certainly be
the case that they should not be permitted to *stop* in bus lanes,
other than perhaps at marked bus stops. Options might be to provide
"taxi stop" lay-bys or just require them to stop on side-streets
instead of Red Routes, on which *nothing*[1] should be stopping except
for buses at marked bus stops.

[1] No, not even bin lorries or contractors' vehicles, without
applying in advance for a bus lane closure or special traffic order in
which someone could design the temporary road layout to minimise
disruption. Bin collections could be sensibly carried out overnight,
perhaps, rather than in the morning rush.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.