Local Tory hopeful calls for new laws on bus lanes

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Says aim should be to get to traffic moving not 'hammering' motorist

Alexander Northcote, the Conservative’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Brentford and Isleworth, has called for the M4 bus lane to be scrapped. He is also supporting new proposals to open up bus lanes to a wider selection of vehicles – including cars with more than one adult passenger.

The new policies, to be debated in the House of Commons as amendments to the Traffic Management Bill, would allow vehicles with two or more adult passengers to use bus lanes, and for any vehicle to use bus lanes at night or in the late evening, if no bus services were operating.

Mr Northcote explained: “It’s time to end the farce of half-used bus lanes, like the notorious M4 bus lane. We should let vehicles use bus lanes at times when there aren’t any bus services operating, and allow vehicles with two or more adult passengers to use the lanes. This would encourage people to work out car-sharing arrangements with their neighbours, without exacerbating the school run."

He said that the aim should be to improve traffic flow on local roads and cut journey times rather than 'hammering' motorists for more taxes. He believes that the Government intends to make more aggressive use of CCTV for bus lane enforcement and added, "As ever, the Government appears more interested in using drivers as a cash cow than actually getting people moving.”

Recently several local authorities in London, including Ealing, have announced that they are taking part in a pilot project to take over the enforcement of several road traffic offences. This will allow wardens to issue penalty notices for breaches of regulations that were formerly handled by the police.

February 6, 2004