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Manchester bus-only lanes a success
Page 49
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• A report on the Manchester Bus Demonstration Project, published this week by the Department of the Environment, shows that traffic flows have improved and overall journey times reduced.
The report describes that action taken in the design of a new one-way system in Manchester city centre to accommodate buses which would otherwise have been inconveniently re-routed. The main purpose of the one-way system was to reduce congestion and improve the north-south traffic flows while that of the bus priority measures was to avoid the diversion around the one-way system which would have caused disadvantage to passengers.
Although the whole scheme is small, the bus priority measures which include two relatively short bus lanes have led to total time savings of 20 per cent for passengers travelling north on this part of their journey. This figure is partially off-set by a reduction of 9 per cent in the number of passengers carried. The flow of general traffic has improved and the reliability of bus services in the area has shown some improvement, whereas previously it showed a slight deterioration. Also the number of road accidents has fallen by 54 per cent.
The report Bus Demonstration Project: Summary Report No.4 Manchester is available, free of charge, from Room P2/073, Department of the Environment, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 3EB. A further technical report can be obtained from: The Librarian, Transport and Road Research Laboratory, Crowthorne, Berkshire, RGII 6AU.