Consultation outcome

Motorcycles in bus lanes

Applies to England

This consultation has concluded

Read the full outcome

Detail of outcome

The safety benefits of allowing motorcycles into bus lanes are not clear. Where data is available, the evidence varies. The response rate to this consultation from local authorities and stakeholder organisations was low and did not provide a robust evidence base to amend current policy.

To form the evidence base for a change in policy, further research would be needed into the:

  • safety impacts of allowing motorcycles into bus lanes
  • impact on bus services

As a result, there is little justification for moving away from a position of local authority choice to one in which allowing motorcycles to use bus lanes is the default.

The consultation did highlight issues of uncertainty in urban areas where permissions change frequently at borough boundaries. We will work with local authorities to achieve greater consistency in these areas.


Original consultation

Summary

Seeks views on allowing motorcycles to use bus lanes by default.

This consultation ran from
to

Consultation description

Local authorities can choose whether to allow other vehicles, including motorcycles, to use bus lanes on their networks.  

This consultation seeks views on allowing motorcycles to access bus lanes by default, as is the case for pedal cycles.

Consulting on this was a commitment in the Plan for Drivers, published in October 2023.

Documents

Updates to this page

Published 17 March 2024
Last updated 21 November 2024 + show all updates
  1. Consultation outcome added.

  2. First published.

Sign up for emails or print this page