Forum Topic

Bus Lanes

I wonder where the new bus lanes the government is proposing will go in Chiswick?  Options as far as I can see are:-(1) Get rid of the pavements to put a bus lane in and perhaps put a pedestrian walkway overhead (2) Put a bus road over the top of the Chiswick High Road (3) Put a bus lane in the middle of the High Road (won't leave muchroom for cars)(4) Get rid of the cycleway.  See:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9363031/Drivers-blast-Boris-Johnsons-3bn-green-revolution-plan-buses-Britains-roads.html

Claire Moran ● 2052d36 Comments

Option 5 (New) - get rid of a lane for cars

Matthew Swain ● 2052d

Perhaps we should go for the Hammersmith approach and turn Chiswick into a giant one way system:

Will Watson ● 2052d

Yes, that would work really well next time they dig up Acton Lanc.

Claire Moran ● 2052d

Listened to Vine on R2 as he was doing a phone in on buses. Strangely enough I didn't hear any calls from London.

Bob Guyett ● 2052d

Will's genius plan is destined for success, I feel.  Mainly because it cuts through all the nonsense and captures the true spirit of the whole debate..… going round and round in circles...

Stuart Kerr ● 2052d

Pedal buses. Bit like The Goodies only muuuuuuch longer. They could use the bike lane too so no need for extra bus lanes.

Chris Blackwell ● 2052d

SK > "... going round and round in circles..."The crucial argument being: sunwise or widdershins?

John Whitworth ● 2052d

"sunwise or widdershins?"..Absolutely JW..The greatest thinkers on Chiswick bus lanes have always approached the problem from the inside lane before looking at the issues on the outside lane.  The so-called inside-out technique.Whereas other locals consider the best schemes are hidden away at the back of the bus and rarely bother looking at the front.  A somewhat back to front approach but it works for a few...

Stuart Kerr ● 2052d

Are those buses with holes in the bottom and all the passengers help scoot the bus along the road John by pushing the bus along with their legs through the holes?  Would probably go at the same speed as existing buses.    If so we could set up a rival event to the Boat Race...and it would certainly be called 'active travel.'

Claire Moran ● 2052d

SK > "Absolutely JW.."Thanks SK, but we must remember that there is more to this problem than appears at first sight.Bus lanes exist in a spacetime whose geometry, we now believe, may involve between 10 and 26 dimensions for a mathematically consistent description.As H. L. Mencken said: "Explanations exist; they have existed for all time; there is always a well-known solution to every human problem - neat, plausible, and wrong."

John Whitworth ● 2052d

Sounds like the cycleway 'solution'. Especially the 'wrong' bit.

Claire Moran ● 2052d

Let’s hope Cllr Curran doesn’t see the giant hamster wheel plan

Russell Pearson ● 2052d

Could this work? Asking for a friend :-)

Ed Saper ● 2052d

Chiswick High Road. Government gives money to Hounslow to  open a cycle lane by closing a bus lane then gives money to open bus lanes. I suppose it provides work. A change from Keynes, he suggested paying one lot of unemployed people to dig holes and then paying another lot of unemployed to fill then in.

Chris Dakers ● 2052d

A genius idea. If you branded them as cycle lanes which buses are allowed to use rather than bus lanes that cycles are allowed to use then perhaps you might just get away with it!

Jeremy Parkinson ● 2052d

:) :)

Claire Moran ● 2052d

Option 5 (New) - get rid of a lane for carsClearly Matthew doesn't live off of CHR. Clearly he also can't be taken seriously with a suggestion like this.

David Lesniak ● 2052d

Dig holes?  So what you're saying is they should build a tunnel?

Ed Saper ● 2052d

A tunnel for bikes and scooters. Perfect idea.

Claire Moran ● 2052d

I am not sure if you are being serious, but what is so bad about this idea? If cycle lans and bus lanes are a must, perhaps one way traffic in the area mentioned is an option?

Phil Hopkins ● 2052d

Cant work Makeup of area,simple as that

Julian Pavey ● 2052d

SK > "... going round and round in circles..."The crucial argument being: sunwise or widdershins?Ah, but this is the beauty of this system. Each Sunday at midnight the direction reverses - so nobody is permanently disadvantaged.

Will Watson ● 2052d

Ban cars and have two bus lanes and retain cycleway.or scrap bus lanes (buses running empty) and roads free forcars and all ensuing pollution, and retain cycleway.

Chris Vessey ● 2052d

Make every two lane road in London one bus lane plus one general traffic lane BUT enforce bus lane restrictions only when a vehicle actually delays a bus by a driver operated camera on the bus.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 2052d

Sounds like madness. What if the car lane is totally blocked and the bus lane car can’t exit? Would CHR be wide enough anyway?Would be good to invent slender buses, half current width and narrow bus lanes. More frequency could compensate.

Vivienne Cox ● 2052d

We need buses like the ones in one of the Harry Potter films, that shrink and expand.

Lucy Chambers ● 2052d

China has the answer.....

Ed Saper ● 2052d

'Sounds like madness. What if the car lane is totally blocked and the bus lane car can’t exit?' Then the car in the bus lane would get a fine. The point is that you shouldn't be in the bus lane if there is any chance of you obstructing a bus."Would CHR be wide enough anyway?"Not along its total length but it does has the capacity for four lanes in most places."Would be good to invent slender buses, half current width and narrow bus lanes. More frequency could compensate"We used to have slender buses - the old routemasters. The legal requirement to be accessible means buses have to be wider now.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 2051d

I was thinking literally half the width. Corridor accessible on pavement side at several points and one row of seats facing that. If public transport was funded differently, it would reduce need for fare collection pinch points.

Vivienne Cox ● 2051d

in reply to narrow buses, would they not topple over in the wind causing more chaos ? Hilarious !! Good idea though, and how about ultra narrow cars too, now that would be a change from the bigger and bigger things we have to put up with currently.

Chris Vessey ● 2051d

This is hilarious so what’s the sensible solution, cycle lane A4 and retain the bus lane on the high road 🧐🧐🧐 you couldn’t make this up 😂😂😂😂

Jayne Thorburn ● 2051d

Or bus lane on the A4? We have to think outside our boxes people! Ask yourself — what would Dominic Cummings do?

Ed Saper ● 2051d

What is the answer?  One of them might be not being a country with so many overweight adults.https://uk.news.yahoo.com/10-most-overweight-countries-in-europe-173658813.html

Philippa Bond ● 2051d

You could put exercise bikes on buses — and they could help generate electricity to propel it. Passengers can lose weight while travelling!  

Ed Saper ● 2051d

Introducing the Slimbus....

Ed Saper ● 2051d

Can you do widespread one-way routes properly if it's not grid system I wonder.

Simon Temple ● 2051d