Bus Lanes

markpb

NeiloMac wrote:

The bus lanes are the problem, put in stupid places that eventually bottle neck, not the drivers fault, not DB fault, I think the transport minister needs to have a long hard look, the whole system, cos it does'nt work,

- Taken from from the Dublin Bus thread.

My biggest gripe with bus lanes are the fact that they start about 50m or 100m from the junction. I know this is to let traffic merge into one lane but what normally happens is that either the traffic in the other lane isn't moving or everyone is pig ignorant - either way the mergers can't get out of the bus lane so they block it and leave huge stretches of bus lane empty.

Wouldn't it make morse sense to have some of the bus lanes start immediately after the junction and resignal it so lanes who would have problems merging are given a seperate green light?

On the Malahide Road / Collins Avenue junction, the bus lane ends 100m before the junction and traffic splits into two lanes. Then after then junction, it merges back into one regular lane. People jump out of the right lane, go straight through (legally) and then can't get back into the bus lane so the entire stretch from Donneycarney to Marino Mart lies empty.

Ste.phen

There's a similar problem at the Swords Rd / Collins ave junction for busses heading south on Swords rd. very very very annoying to wait in traffic for ages just cos peope are waiting to merge back into 1 lane from 2.
It's particularly bad near the end, when you can *see* the empty bus lane with 3/4 cars blocking it

atholl45

Who cares....

daymobrew

markpb wrote:

Wouldn't it make morse sense to have some of the bus lanes start immediately after the junction

I spoke with Dublin City Council about this, from a cyclist's perspective. My issue is that people often swing into the bus lane without checking for cyclists currently there.
My suggestion to DCC was to limit the left lane (after the bus lane temporarily ends) to those making left turns. I was told that this is being implemented in some new bus lanes, but not to existing junctions.

People often comment that bus lanes are empty - the appear to be so because buses pass along them quickly and the rest of the very slow moving traffic just sees the an empty lane. The Navan Road (Ashtown to Old Cabra Road) is used by many routes and the buses flow well so the lanes appear empty despite this.

markpb

daymobrew wrote:

My suggestion to DCC was to limit the left lane (after the bus lane temporarily ends) to those making left turns. I was told that this is being implemented in some new bus lanes, but not to existing junctions.

Any idea why?

daymobrew

markpb wrote:

Any idea why?

No. I didn't push that question because I didn't think that I would get any joy i.e. the decision had been made and there was no changing it.

b3t4

This annoys the hell out of me as well.
I'll try and explain what happens at a junction my bus goes through every day.

1. Approaching the junction the bus has a bus lane. The bus lane falls short of the junction by about 50m or so.
2. There are now two lanes for traffic.
3. The lane on the right can turn right or continue straight on and the lane on the left can turn left or go straight on.
4. The lane on the right is not given right of way to turn right and the driver has to wait till there is a gap in traffic before they can move along.
5. People who wish to go straight on are now stuck behind the vehicle turning right. Many will move into the lane on their left and try to remerge at the other side of junction. Not to mention the number of drivers who move into the bus lane before they are legally allowed do so.
6. However, when the lane on the left move straight on they are faced with entering a bus lane. They then tries to merge again with the lane on the right. If they cannot merge they block the bus lane.

This can be extremely frustrating if you are on a bus. Many times our bus has been unable to move forward for at least 10mins. And people wonder why the buses aren't perfectly on time.

My solution to this would be to disallow drivers from turning right at this junction. This restriction is already applied to the on coming traffic. I would also strictly apply the rules of bus lanes and have those that enter a bus lane when they should not fined.

A.

Wishbone Ash

b3t4 wrote:

I would also strictly apply the rules of bus lanes and have those that enter a bus lane when they should not fined.

I think you are missing the point of the thread. If the vehicles on the left lane are attempting to merge with the traffic on the right before the start of the bus lane, then they are not doing anything illegal. It does however cause a lot of annoyance to those who are permitted to use the bus lane as they are delayed but they should not blame the motorists attempting to merge as they have done nothing wrong (provided they have not entered the bus lane). I am occasionally in this position at the start of the southbound bus lane on the Swords Rd. (opposite the Viscount pub). The OP is saying that traffic should not be allowed to get into this position in the first place.

Ste.phen

Wishbone Ash wrote:

I am occasionally in this position at the start of the southbound bus lane on the Swords Rd. (opposite the Viscount pub).

This is what I was referring to also.
I eventually took to walking from Beaumont to the bus stop immediately after the start of this bus lane. the ~10 minute walk was far faster than getting the bus from the Shantalla bridge and sitting in traffic for 10/15/20/25 (an extreme case) minutes.

markpb

b3t4 wrote:

4. The lane on the right is not given right of way to turn right and the driver has to wait till there is a gap in traffic before they can move along.

I guess thats part of the problem, I didn't think of that. If drivers had to remain in the right lane (assuming two lanes), they couldn't go straight on because drivers turning right wouldn't have priority. The only way to fix that would be to restrict the junction to one direction at a time (ie no north and south movements at the same time) which would kill capacity

My solution to this would be to disallow drivers from turning right at this junction..

I don't think thats possible, at least not at major junctions.

igy wrote:

There's a similar problem at the Swords Rd / Collins ave junction for busses heading south on Swords rd. very very very annoying to wait in traffic for ages just cos peope are waiting to merge back into 1 lane from 2.

This is one junction that definitely shouldn't have this problem - its more than wide enough to allow for one turning left lane, one bus lane, one straight ahead lane and one right turning lane.

b3t4

Wishbone Ash wrote:

then they are not doing anything illegal

I think you missed my point I never said they were doing anything illegal with the whole merging thing. I agree that they are legally allowed to do this and I do understand what this thread is about.

I'd be strictly applying the rules of bus lanes to those that enter the bus lane too early.

A.

Ste.phen

markpb wrote:

This is one junction that definitely shouldn't have this problem - its more than wide enough to allow for one turning left lane, one bus lane, one straight ahead lane and one right turning lane.

Yes, but they probably won't do anything about it.
As it is, busses in particular seem fond of whizzing up the left-turn lane and trying to merge just before the traffic lights back into the left-most straight ahead lane, thus making it worse for everyone.
Bastards.

Wishbone Ash

markpb wrote:

This is one junction that definitely shouldn't have this problem - its more than wide enough to allow for one turning left lane, one bus lane, one straight ahead lane and one right turning lane.

I think Igy means at the next set of lights inbound after the Collins Avenue junction (where the bus lane begins) opposite The Viscount pub. (Iveagh Rd??).

Ste.phen

Iveragh Road, yes.
The problem is worst there, but the situation starts further back, just before the collins ave/ swords road junction