Bus lane would be hollowest of victories for public transport

One of the proposals listed in the Dunedin City Council’s draft 10 Year Plan is a Princes St bus lane, estimated to cost $6.6 million (51% funded by the NZ Transport Agency).

The bus lane would stretch from South Rd past Manse St to Moray Pl to promote more efficient movement of buses along Princes St.

It is one of 12 transport projects in a $100 million package (Otago Daily Times, January 11, 2021).

I think a proposed Princes St bus lane is a terrible idea, and the maths shows why. Dunedin has 16 bus routes. Four of them never go near Princes St. That leaves 12 - two rapid routes running four times an hour and 10 regular twice-hourly routes. This adds up to a maximum of 28 buses an hour that would use a new busway. That’s fewer than a bus every two minutes. In practice, you might see no bus at all on a new bus lane for five to 10 minutes at a time. Two buses at once would be a rarity. All this on a lane that would otherwise allow hundreds of vehicles an hour to and from the city.

Making buses the "winner", and what’s wrong with that? Motorists would feel indignation at having to wait slightly longer to traverse their narrower allocation of road space. Retailers would add the removal of car parking outside their shops to their growing list of perceived slights by the city out against their interests. People who do not depend on the bus network for their personal mobility would deride an "empty" bus lane, or one full of "empty" buses, painted at great cost - it would be the George St dots all over again.

It would be the hollowest of victories for public transport. The top brass would come to the official opening, as they did at the bus hub opening, but that’s the last anyone would see of them.

In time the paint, and the enthusiasm, would fade. Couriers would see it as fair game and double-park on it, queue-jumpers would sneak along it, the council would either ignore all this or start a reign of enforcement terror, or both, but would fail to get the balance right. Bus drivers would often elect to use the normal lanes, further undermining the concept.

The last thing the bus service needs is more opponents.

A fabulous new bus lane is a great way to be seen to be doing something to support public transport. It’s big, it’s glamorous, and it’s green (at least in paint colour). But where is the angry mob loudly protesting at Dunedin’s lack of a bus lane? Dunedin bus users have asked for plenty of things, costing far less than $6.6 million, that would improve bus travel. Making all bus stops big enough to actually fit a bus on them would be a start.

The DCC is "working on" this but glaciers melt faster than the pace achieved so far. Painting yellow lines on all unmarked bus stops is another paintbrush-ready item that would ensure elderly, infirm or pram-pushing passengers can get on and off easily and safely. Indeed the council is breaking a little-known traffic regulation in not painting their stops, and breaking the well-known Bill of Rights in not making bus stops safe and accessible.

So, DCC, sweat the small stuff. And if there is money left over, install bus-detection devices at the approaches to traffic lights to hold the green signal until the bus clears the intersection. This is off-the-shelf available technology, far smarter than the blunt instrument of a bus lane.