Press Release

Final motorcycles in bus lanes report proves inconclusive on safety
12-3-2008   182

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, today said that he would not be changing the rules of London’s major roads to allow motorbikes to ride in bus lanes.  His decision follows the publication of a report into a trial, which has provided no clear evidence of safety benefits to motorcyclists and potential disbenefits to pedestrians and cyclists.

The report published today is the definitive analysis.  Transport for London's Road Safety Unit utilised a robust analysis of the data, known as the “Tanner Test”.  This analysed the safety effects of allowing motorcyclists in bus lanes by combining accident data from a number of sites.  It showed no clear evidence of safety benefits to motorcyclists and potential disbenefits to pedestrians and cyclists.

An earlier draft was wrongly claimed by some groups to show significant safety benefits to motorcyclists, pedestrians and cyclists.  In fact, in this draft report a methodology was applied to the trial data that was flawed, providing a misleading set of safety statistics.  It utilised a flawed analysis based on a single day's traffic counts, which produced widely varying numbers on a year-by-year basis.

Between two years at the same location, the number of cyclists counted increased three and a half times before falling back to previous levels two years later.  Such a fluctuation in data could, for instance, have been a result of weather conditions, rather than the impact of sharing road space with motorcyclists.

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone said:
“I am not opposed to the principle of allowing motorcycles in bus lanes if there is a clear safety benefit for all road users.  However, I do not consider it appropriate to make a policy decision in such an important area when it is clear that the information used was not fit for purpose.

“The final published report shows that at present, the only robust aspect of the evidence is the Tanner Test, which shows only a very small safety benefit for motorcyclists against a larger disbenefit for other vulnerable road users.  On this basis I do not propose to further allow motorcyclists to use bus lanes.

“Those who have advocated rushing though a change have clearly acted prematurely and irresponsibly.  Such changes could have endangered the lives of cyclists and pedestrians.”

TfL Managing Director of Surface Transport, David Brown said:
“The safety of all road users is a top priority for Transport for London.  Our decisions must be based on clear evidence.  Our record to date shows great success in cutting death and serious injury on London’s roads.

“The numbers of people killed or seriously injured on London's roads have fallen by 41 per cent since the mid to late 1990s.  However, we've not seen the same kind of reduction amongst motorcyclists, where there's been a nine percent reduction over the same period.

“We undertook this trial to see if we could improve road safety for all road users, including pedestrians and cyclists. The results to date do not support a change in policy in this area.  However, we continue to work hard to improve road safety for this vulnerable group of road users, both through our bike safe programme and through our hard-hitting road safety advertising campaigns.”

Transport for London this month launched a new TV ad campaign aimed at cutting the numbers of motorcyclists killed and injured on London’s roads.  Transport for London continues to investigate ways to further tackle this important issue.

Ends

Notes to Editor

· The report can be found on the GLA website at http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/transport/streets.jsp

· The key Tanner Test results from the report are as follows. The sites selected, where motorcycles were allowed to use the bus lanes, were as follows:

A13 East India Dock Road, between Leamouth Road and Butcher Row East;

A23 Brixton Road, between Camberwell New Road and Streatham Common South;

A41 Finchley Road, between Queen’s Grove North and Platt’s Lane.

· Two sites were also chosen as control routes, to determine the relative changes in safety of the trial, as follows:

A5 Rondu Road to Summit Close and Humber Road to Staples Corner;

A10 Pasteur Gardens to Ostliffe Road and Wilbury Way to Laburnum Avenue.

· Each assessment investigated four scenarios:

1. A41 trial route against control using the Tanner Test control for all times of day.

2. A41 trial route against control using the Tanner Test control for operating hours only.
3. A41 & A23 trial routes combined data against control routes using Tanner Test for all times of day.

4. A41 & A23 trial routes combined data against control routes combined data using Tanner Test for operating hours only.

Percentage change in collisions, trial against controls:

(Reduction, Increase) 
       
        Peds    Cyclists       P2W    
1        +9        +39             +22   
2         -4        +85             +5  
3         -4           0              -12   
4         -4         -6               +3  

None of the above results proved to be statically significant. While they show only a very small, but statistically neutral, benefit to Powered Two Wheelers (P2W), or motorcycles, two of the sites showed a potential disbenefit to pedestrians and / or cyclists;

TfL also conducted opinion surveys alongside the trial. Studies targeted motorcyclists, cyclists, bus drivers, pedestrians and the general public. A summary of the results shows:

· While they showed a majority (83%) of motorcyclists in favour o fallowing motorcycles in bus lanes, the majority of pedestrians and cyclists are opposed to allowing motorcycles into bus lanes;

· Among all Londoners, slightly more people believe allowing motorbikes to use bus lanes would be a bad idea than a good one. However, opinion is strongly divided, with 45% in favour and 48% against;

· Bus users who are not car users are the most vociferously negative, with 60% thinking it a bad idea. Only 32% thought it a good idea;

· 47% of all people surveyed agreed that motorcyclists would be safer, while 35% thought they would be less safe;

· Car drivers who are not bus users are the only other group in favour of the change but not strongly so; 54% think it a good idea and 38% a bad idea.

Motorcycles will continue to be allowed in the bus lanes in which they are already granted access. But Transport for London will not be extending the access to any further bus lanes under its control.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Call Matt Brown at the Mayor’s Press Office on 020 7983 4716 or email matt.brown@london.gov.uk (details not for publication).

GENERAL PUBLIC/NON-MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Call the Public Liaison Unit at the Greater London Authority on 020 7983 4100

DUTY PRESS OFFICER: For out-of-hours media enquiries, please call 020 7983 4000

Terms and conditions

Accessibility

Privacy 

Freedom of information