Road Safety Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 133:"After Clause 38, insert the following new clause—"    ““MOTORCYCLES IN BUS LANES    All bus lanes when buses are moving in the same direction as traffic in the adjacent vehicle lane shall be open to use by motorcycles.”” The noble Baroness said: In moving the amendment to allow motorcycles the use of bus lanes, I remind the House that I am an elected member of a local authority and a magistrate who sits frequently on road traffic cases. The scheme to allow motorcycles in bus lanes has already proved successful in many European cities, most notably Stockholm, and Barcelona in Spain. Furthermore, it has demonstrated its advantages in this country with the permanent operation of schemes in Bristol since 1996, Reading since 1999, and many other local authorities following its success. First, allowing motorcycles into bus lanes contributes to the alleviation of local traffic problems. It can usually be done without delaying buses in the way that pedal cyclists often do. Secondly, it makes better use of the existing infrastructure. Some bus lanes are now enormously wide. It is a major tenet of Highways Agency policy under the 2005 local transport plan guidance. Also, it enhances air quality and encourages more practical and sustainable transport modes. Despite the compelling reasons and numerous benefits, the Government have failed so far to introduce the scheme nationwide. Why? We understand that orthodoxy among many transport experts still maintains that allowing motorcycles to use bus lanes will lead to safety problems for both the motorcycle rider and other users of bus lanes; actually, other users will be only buses and taxis. Allow me to draw the Committee’s attention to a number of recent studies conducted by Transport for London that add weight to the raft of successful examples here and elsewhere in Europe that I have already cited. Three experimental studies have run in parts of London simultaneously since October 2002, and will shortly complete their three-year trial period. The interim reports have arrived at some interesting data. Those data have been misunderstood, particularly in the other place, but are producing evidence that this is a successful way of providing traffic movement. The data have also been reappraised by the British Motorcyclists Federation and its analysis gives consideration to external factors that have affected the experimental scheme; namely, the extensive roadworks on the A13 portion that probably have made it much more difficult for it to be assessed. However, if one takes that into account it reveals that allowing motorcycles to use bus lanes has led to a significant 19.5 per cent reduction in motorcycle accidents. In view of that fact, the clause would introduce a scheme that is proven to have worked both at home and abroad and would ease traffic problems, be good for the environment and, most importantly, add to road safety. I have just mentioned that particularly in London with congestion charging people are taking more and more to motorcycles. There are probably more motorcycles on the road now than pedal cycles, which is beginning to say something. I wanted to raise the matter and I hope that the Minister will reassure me that it will be taken on board and the scheme introduced on a wider scale. I beg to move.