Auckland Bus Lane Enforcement

The current Auckland debate on buslane enforcement is unfortunate. There is a risk that election fervour and froth will triumph over reason, that populism will supress the best decision. It is an action replay of what happened when North Shore City Council tried to enforce the buslane on Onewa Road when I was Chair of its Works and Environment Committee in the years 2001 - 2004. There had been a buslane down Onewa Road for years already. It was put there by the old Birkenhead Borough Council. The problem was that it was not enforced. No-one took it seriously. The consequence was that cars used it whenever they wanted to, and buses didn't get commuters down to the motorway and over the bridge to their work in Auckland any quicker than driving a car.

So the NSCC decided to do something about it by proper enforcement. We dug out some statistics from enforcement done by the old Borough Council. They found that if they enforced the land one day a week - by using the police to fine motorists - then no-one took it seriously. If they used the police two days a week - still motorists took the risk and used the bus lane. But if they had it policed four days a week - then motorists took it seriously. But that was all pre 1989. For years NSCC had ignored the lane. This table shows what was happening in 2oo2 without enforcement, but after NSCC had declared it a T3 lane. The traffic data are for an average peak am hour. At the time it took 30 minutes for cars and buses to get down Onewa Road without enforcement. You can also see how many people got down Onewa Road in a peak am hour (about 3200 in 2400 vehicles). Some went down the general lane (average of 1.1 people/car) and others went down the T3 lane (for buses and cars with 3 or more people).

This table shows what happened by 2003 after the Onewa Road T3 lane was enforced with the same video enforcement that Auckland City is using on its bus lanes. It then took just 7 minutes for the buses and T3's to negotiate the length of Onewa Road. (And this was before the recent changes to the Onewa State Highway interchange.) You can also see that Onewa Road carried 3,900 people/hour in 1500 vehicles on average, after enforcement. And that nearly 1600 of them went by bus instead of 980 on average. NB there was capacity for more bus passengers, but patronage increased steadily. What then happened was that NSCC applied to Parliament for powers so its staff, subject to a code of practice could do the enforcement. Up to then NSCC was reliant on enforcement by the police who had other priorities. Sure there were some teething problems, but it's in place now and accepted by the public and drivers. A lot were fined to begin with. There were appeals. Some won, and some lost. But the drivers have been educated through this process.

You only have to look around the world to see how necessary enforcement that is robust is, to ensure bus lanes are effective. This is an extract from New York Transit: In recent years, there has been a wave of interest and innovation in strategies to make bus operations more efficient and effective. Cities around the country have created new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems and pursued other strategies to make their regular bus services faster and more reliable. One common approach in urban centers has been the dedication of street space for priority use by buses during designated hours. But experiences in congested urban centers have shown that simply designating a bus lane is not enough to ensure that operating conditions for buses are improved. Amid the intensive competition for street and curb space that occurs within central business districts, the effectiveness of bus lanes can be quickly undermined in the absence of ongoing enforcement efforts. A vehicle stopped or parked in a bus lane requires buses to weave into adjacent traffic lanes, reducing the useful capacity of already-congested urban streets. Thus, strategies to ensure the effectiveness of bus lanes are essential not only for the success of BRT and other strategies to speed bus service, but also to improve the overall efficiency of traffic flow on city streets. An important lesson that has been learned from earlier experiences with bus lanes is that some mitigation of their effects on other transportation system users is often required before enforcement becomes feasible. In New York City, curb access for delivery trucks is at such a premium that even steeply-priced tickets are seen as a necessary cost of business and do not provide an effective deterrent to the blockage of bus lanes. A recent study of the feasibility of BRT on New York City’s streets by two members of this study team concluded that new street designs that accommodated bus lanes while also extending the hours available for goods deliveries would make stricter enforcement more politically feasible. On streets that lack the width necessary to accommodate these conflicting demands simultaneously, pricing or other management strategies may help ensure efficient curb utilization during the hours in which they are available for commercial use. And here's another quote from public Q&A information promulgated about the buslane enforcement measures being rolled out across New York (I have boldened some words here, so you get the drift...) How will the City assure that bus lanes are enforced? Improving the enforcement of bus lanes is a critical element to ensuring the success of Select Bus Service, and we are working closely with the New York City Police Department on enforcement strategies that are both aggressive and sustainable. We are researching best practices around the country and outside the United States for bus lane enforcement strategies. In the long-term, we are also working towards the implementation of bus lane enforcement cameras, which would automate the enforcement process by issuing violation notices to vehicles that illegally drive or park in the bus lane. Bus lane cameras require approval from New York State, and draft legislation enabling enforcement through cameras was recently introduced in Albany. In the long-term, we are also working towards the implementation of bus lane enforcement cameras, which would automate the enforcement process by issuing violation notices to vehicles that illegally drive or park in the bus lane. Bus lane cameras require approval from New York State, and draft legislation enabling enforcement through cameras was recently introduced in Albany. Can you drive in a bus lane? The only time it is legal for a vehicle other than a bus (or an emergency vehicle responding to an emergency) to drive in the bus lane is to make a right turn at the next available opportunity. Will emergency vehicles be using the bus lanes? Emergency vehicles will be allowed to travel in the bus lane when they are responding to an emergency situation. Can taxis drop off/pick up in a bus lane? Can taxis drive in a bus lane with a passenger? As with other vehicles, the only situation in which a taxi can enter the bus lane is to make a right turn at the next available opportunity. As a result, a taxi could pick up or drop off a passenger in the bus lane only if the taxi does not occupy the lane for any significant length of time, and the driver turns right at the next opportunity. Can non-transit buses use a bus lane? Can school buses use a bus lane? Currently, all buses (as defined in the New York City Traffic Rules) are allowed to drive in bus lane. If bus lanes become congested at some point in the future, consideration may be given to limiting the use of bus lanes to Transit buses only. How will deliveries be handled to my store? Each of the corridors have different strategies with regards to running ways, and consequently the approach to allow for reliable deliveries to stores will be based on the type and duration of bus lane operation. The team will consult with local business to identify solutions. On all corridors, deliveries can be made before or after peak travel hours, and on weekends. Where blocks are short, deliveries can be made from side streets. In the case of the Fordham Road-Pelham Parkway corridor, all day bus lanes are in effect in both directions so "windows" in the operation of the bus lanes will be provided midday to facilitate deliveries to the stores. Between 10:00am and noon, deliveries will be permitted on the south side of Fordham Road. Between noon and 2:00pm, deliveries will be permitted on the north side of Fordham Road. In addition, before 7AM and after 7PM curb space will be available for deliveries. Finally, delivery zones have been established on side streets. Where will people park who want to go to stores on a block with a bus lane? As each of the corridors have different running way concepts; parking will be handled slightly differently for each of the corridors. Overnight parking will continue to be permitted at the curb. Where appropriate, a small amount of parking will be established on side streets adjacent to commercial areas. In the case of the Fordham Road Corridor, given that all day bus lanes are proposed in both directions, for most of the day, parking will not be permitted on Fordham Road. There are some municipal parking facilities in this area. Outside of the hours of operation of the bus lanes, i.e. before 7AM and after 7PM, curb space will be available for parking. How do you know that all traffic will not come to gridlock if you do this? The plans for the SBS demonstration corridors have been designed in such a way as to result in minimal traffic impacts. In the majority of cases, the proposals involve the removal of an existing parking lane. Traffic analysis shows that in most cases creating a separate lane for buses and right turning vehicles results in an improvement in traffic conditions. Where current travel lanes have been converted to bus lanes it is not expected that a significant worsening of traffic conditions will arise. To evaluate these impacts, the project team is completing a detailed evaluation of the traffic conditions on each of the proposed Select Bus Service corridors. At major intersections, the team is completing analysis to quantify the impacts of the proposed Select Bus Service priority measures. Where impacts are identified, mitigation measures will be included to minimize the impacts. And here's an interesting idea from Birmingham.... Birmingham City Council For Birmingham City Council we assessed the effectiveness of a system for deterring illegal use of bus lanes. The project resulted in the specification of a system using video cameras mounted on buses with the vehicle registration plates of offenders identified through image processing... And in Nottingham we see the same sort of thing, only different... CAMERAS to deter motorists from driving in bus and tram lanes illegally have been installed in Nottingham. The city council has set up Automatic Number Plate Recognition digital cameras at hotspots for cars and motorcyclists using bus or tram-only lanes. The installation follows a successful period of testing and approval by the Department for Transport. Motorists caught by the cameras will be sent a Pounds 60 penalty charge notice I found these links without effort using Google. Bus lane enforcement is not rocket science. But it is essential if they are to work and deliver benefits to commuters, sufficient for them to leave their cars at home. It's about behaviour change. Once Aucklanders get the picture then the level of enforcement may be scaled back somewhat. But the lesson from Onewa Rd is that scaling back on enforcement too much too soon is ineffective. Public Transport is a case of build it and they will come, but it's also a case of slow buses are empty buses. Poor enforcement is like a wet bus ticket. Few take any notice. It's just another sign of public transport not being taken seriously by politicians.

But it can be improved in Auckland. There's always room for fine-tuning. I took this picture yesterday (9th August, about 7:55am) on Symonds Street. You can see Council's video monitoring team arriving to set up (they were unloading their road signs and video equipment). Their truck is parked exactly in the bus lane. You can see two buses have been forced to pull out into the line of general traffic. That's a good look isn't it? Practice what you enforce guys.