We, the undersigned, petition Norfolk County Council to remove the 24 Hr restrictions on the dereham road bus lane.
previously the bus lane was a timed bus lane this later changed to a 24 hour 7 day a week restriction due to the park and ride buses and the ammount of buses using dereham road thoughout the day.
the number of buses per day or per hour have dropped hugly since the park and ride costessey no longer serves the dereham road. leaving one bus company and service using the dereham road to access the city.
currently 5 buses per hour less at weekends use the dereham road bus lane between the bowthorpe roundabout and norwich road.
large numbers of vehicles use the narrow side roads of costessey to shortcut through to norwich road to continue their journey. opening the bus lane to all cars outside of peak hours and allowing traffic wishing to turn left into norwich road would not only speed up traffic but also reduce the number of cars using the residential streets as short cuts. reduce emmisions on these side roads. as well as emissions on the traffic which is holding on dereham road in a single traffic lane.
the bus lane is not enforced in any capacity which serves little purpose of having it 24hrs a day.
so we ask norfolk county council to investigate and debate reducing the 24hr a day 7 day a week bus and cycles only restrictions to a times restriction similiar to sprowston bus lane.
Saturday, 23 October 2021
This petition currently has 1224 signatures in total.
| Petition Signatories |
| - Data Removed - |
| - Data Removed - |
| - Data Removed - |
| - Data Removed - |
| - Data Removed - |
| - Data Removed - |
| - Data Removed - |
| - Data Removed - |
| - Data Removed - |
| - Data Removed - |
This petition has been reviewed and the following response has been offered:
Dereham Road is an important public transport corridor into Norwich and up to eight buses per hour use the existing bus lane that is in place, carrying up to 125,000 passengers per month. It is important to note that the bus lane can also be used by taxis and those cycling, with surveys showing up to 150 people per day cycling towards the city in the bus lane.
There are numerous benefits to bus lanes, which include:
- Increased bus service reliability;
- More consistent bus passenger journey times;
- Encourages greater use of public transport, particularly through a modal shift from car;
- Enables buses to stop at the bus stops along the route out of the general flow of traffic;
- Provides a safer environment for those cycling along the road;
- Provides a lane for emergency vehicles.
For the reasons above, the bus lane is operational 24 hours a day and the majority of bus lanes in Norfolk operate on this basis. These benefits are greatest at peak times of the day when the transport network is at its busiest but benefits are still realised throughout the remainder of the day. If restrictions are changed to allow general traffic to use the bus lane, the benefits that bus lanes bring would be substantially reduced or removed altogether. Additionally, this would create a dual carriageway environment in this area where traffic is likely to speed up and exceed the speed limit. Delays to general traffic are minimised by stopping the bus lane short of busy junctions.
The new National Bus Strategy for England, “Bus Back Better”, issued in 2021, makes it clear that local authorities across England are expected to provide significant increases in bus priority, with bus lanes provided on roads where there is a frequent bus service, congestion and physical space to install one. Additionally, the strategy states that bus lanes should be full time and as continuous as possible. The current provision and operation of the bus lane on Dereham Road is consistent with the requirements of this latest government strategy for buses.
The County Council has recently published (Nov 2021) its “Bus Service Improvement Plan” (BSIP), which can be downloaded from the County Council website. This was a requirement of the “Bus Back Better” strategy and sets out our proposals for we want to create an environment where the bus plays its full role in our communities’ journey to a Carbon Net Zero future. The BSIP outlines that the existing timings of the Sprowston - Wroxham Road bus lane will be reviewed so that the times of operation become consistent with provision on other bus lanes (24hr) and that the County Council will look to apply for new powers to enforce moving traffic offences so that buses can operate efficiently in bus lanes without delays introduced by other vehicles.
The County Council has secured funding through the Transforming Cities Fund (TCF), which has the aim of delivering clean transport priority corridors linking economic growth areas with existing and future housing and educational provision. Dereham Road is one of these corridors and TCF proposals along various sections of Dereham Road are aimed at encouraging more people to use public transport, walk and cycle. First Bus are investing £18m in the provision of new buses and bus service enhancements as part of their commitment to the TCF programme, which includes new buses and a weekday service of up to 10 buses per hour for the Red line service along Dereham Road. This investment is based around improvements to journey time reliability and journey time savings that can only be delivered through existing and proposed bus priority measures, including bus lanes, being in place and operational all of the time.
| Date | User | Description | Status |
| 11/11/2021 12:26 | (System Event) | - Data Removed - | Response Published |
| 11/11/2021 12:21 | (System Event) | - Data Removed - | Response Published |
| 11/11/2021 12:16 | (System Event) | - Data Removed - | Response Published |
| 11/11/2021 12:08 | (System Event) | - Data Removed - | Response Published |
| 24/10/2021 04:25 | (System Event) | - Data Removed - | Response Pending |
| 13/09/2021 19:25 | (System Event) | - Data Removed - | Petition Active |
| 10/09/2021 20:51 | (System Event) | - Data Removed - | Petition Active |
| 10/09/2021 20:33 | (System Event) | - Data Removed - | Petition Active |
| 10/09/2021 20:32 | (System Event) | - Data Removed - | Petition Active |
| 10/09/2021 16:30 | (System Event) | - Data Removed - | Petition Active |