Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which local authorities allow motorcycles access to bus lanes; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of revising guidance on motorcycle access to bus lanes to create consistency; and if he will make a statement.

The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016, as amended, prescribe the traffic signs to be used to indicate if motorcycles are allowed into bus lanes. This is a decision for local traffic authorities to make, and they are not required to inform the Department. Accordingly, the Department does not hold information on which authorities allow motorcycles into bus lanes.

Traffic authorities are responsible for providing traffic management schemes for their roads and are free to make their own decisions about the streets under their care, provided they take account of the relevant legislation.

The Department has published Traffic Advisory Leaflet (TAL) 2/07 ‘The Use of Bus Lanes by Motorcycles’ in 2007. There are no plans to revise this. TAL 2/07 is available at the link below:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/traffic-advisory-leaflets-1989-to-2009