The Conservative Party is pledging that it will remove 24-hour bus lanes in areas where they control councils after next week’s local elections in England. The policy of “bus lanes that make sense” is part of a six-point plan for drivers announced by the opposition ahead of the May polls, according to the BBC.
The party says the councils it runs will only allow bus lanes if there is a “genuine requirement”.
A Conservative spokesperson said.
“Councils across the country have turned bus lanes into 24/7 enforcement traps. [We] will restore a common-sense approach to how road space is used.”
In 2021, Transport for London said about 50 miles (85km) of bus lanes in the capital would permanently operate 24-hours a day, seven days a week, while in the same year, West Northamptonshire Council – when it was controlled by the Conservatives – scrapped a 24/7 bus lane and reduced its operating times.
However, also in 2021 the Conservative-run Norfolk County Council, installed a 24/7 bus lane.
The Conservative Party’s proposals on bus lanes are part of its wider plan to “restore common sense for car owners to get Britain moving again”. The plan involves reversing a fuel duty hike due in September, spending £100m on pothole repairs, ending blanket 20mph schemes, clearing driving test backlogs, and scrapping the 2030 ban on petrol and diesel cars.
(Picture: Reading Borough Council)
