The bus is the only immediate solution to London's congestion problems - but without proper priority measures, it can never fulfil its potential. LT Buses, Ealing, Hammersmith/Fulham, and Hillingdon Councils and CentreWest Buses, have over the last three years devised new bus priority measures and followed them through to implementation. Over the last three years, since the UK's first bus pre-signal was introduced at Shepherd's Bush, many other measures have been installed along the 21 kilometres between Shepherd's Bush and Uxbridge as part of the Uxbridge Road Bus Priority Demonstration Project. By the end of 1996 there were 16 bus lanes totalling approximately 6 kilometres, or 15% of the total two-way route length. There are a number of innovative priority measures such as two combined pre-signal and traffic metering schemes approaching Southall and Hanwell Town Centres. Annual surveys over the whole of Uxbridge Road show a bus journey time reduction of over 4 minutes (7%) between 1992 and 1995, with a maximum saving of over 7 minutes (13%) in the morning peak westbound. There has also been a significant increase in bus patronage on Uxbridge Road between 1993 and 1996. Further benefits for bus passengers will be obtained with the introduction of new traffic signal bus priority systems and strategies. In Autumn 1996, CentreWest and LT Buses not only increased the frequency of the express service, but also introduced brand new high quality double deck buses. The limited stop nature of the service, combined with the bus priority measures, should significantly enhance the overall journey experience.
Abstract