Press Releases

Bus lanes are next stop in Ealing’s congestion-busting plans (PR 1441)

Selected bus lanes across Ealing could be shortened, suspended or limited to peak hours as part of ongoing council efforts to cut congestion in the borough.

At a meeting yesterday, the council’s cabinet agreed to review all 45 sections of bus lane in Ealing and trial a range of measures to help ease congestion, improve consistency and reduce confusion at 13 high-priority locations.

The proposed measures include:

All measures are subject to consultation, with approved trials expected to get underway in August 2009.

Ealing Council’s Executive Director for Transport, Pat Hayes, said:  “Residents have told us that bus lanes in Ealing do not always work effectively and, in some cases, are directly contributing to confusion and congestion. 

“Where these concerns are greatest, we propose to trial some practical, commonsense measures to help both cars and buses get around the borough more freely.    

“It’s not a matter of favouring one mode of transport over another, but rather helping all road users share the available road space more effectively.”

Potential alterations to Ealing’s remaining 32 bus lanes will be agreed in July and, subject to consultation and funding, will be trialled later in October.

Ealing’s bus lane review plan follows last month’s decision to target key congestion hotspots across the borough. 

Initiatives such as signal timing changes, additional turning arrows and the experimental removal of traffic signals at selected junctions are now being investigated by the council and will be carried out subject to consultation and safety audits.