Ealing Residents Climb Aboard The Bus Lane Debate

'Clarity and consistency' the top tips from locals

Bus lane signs should be more clear and operational times more consistent, according to Ealing residents.

They also say some junctions at the beginning and ends of bus lanes are dangerous and should be re-designed.

These were the themes that emerged as people gave their views at Ealing Council’s Bus Lane Specialist Scrutiny Panel meeting, ealier this month.

The panel of Ealing councillors has been set up to carry out an in-depth study and produce a report with recommendations about bus lanes by next April.

Representatives from the following groups were also at the meeting:
Association of British Drivers
London Cycling Campaign
Ealing Passenger Transport Users Group
Transport for London
Friends of the Earth
London Travel Watch
Hillingdon Motorists Forum

Station Commander of Southall Fire Station, Richard Claydon, also attended and gave the Fire Brigade’s views on this issue.

Councillor Dawn Larmouth, chairman of the Bus Lane Specialist Scrutiny Panel, said: “We had plenty of views at the meeting and we have already received lots of calls and emails from people.

“What has emerged so far is that there is a lot of confusion about bus lanes because there are so many which are operational at different times.

“We focused on bus lanes in Ealing Broadway this time, but the next one will be about ones in Greenford. I will be at Greenford Area Committee on 19 September to hear from local residents on this topic.”

The panel’s final report will be used by the Cabinet to carry out a review of bus lanes in 2008/2009. The panel meetings are all public and residents are free to speak and give their views.

The next meeting is on 1 November. January’s focuses on Acton and February’s will discuss the Council’s review of the Northolt bus lane and reach a conclusion on what they want to recommend to Cabinet.

A representative from the following groups have been co-opted on to the panel:
Association of British Drivers
London Cycling Campaign
Ealing Passenger Transport Users Group
Transport for London

The councillors on the panel are: Dawn Larmouth (Chairman), Bassam Mahfouz (Vice-Chairman), Peter Allott, Colm Costello, Jagdish Gupta, Rosa Popham,  Marie Randall, Ranjit Dheer and Zahida Noori. Your views can be given to any one of them. Alternatively, contact Keith Fraser, (Head of Scrutiny) on 020 8825 7497 fraserk@ealing.gov.uk

September 19, 2007