Skip to main content

London invests in bus priority schemes to help keep bus passengers moving

With London’s roads seeing an increase in congestion due to a construction boom and a significant growth in population, Transport for London is investing heavily in helping keep the roads moving through a range of means. Part of this programme is designed to help buses get through congested areas quicker and more reliably. A US$284 million investment in new bus priority schemes in the capital includes changes to road layouts and junctions and enabling small changes to routes so that buses can avoid traff
January 26, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
With London’s roads seeing an increase in congestion due to a construction boom and a significant growth in population, 1466 Transport for London is investing heavily in helping keep the roads moving through a range of means.

Part of this programme is designed to help buses get through congested areas quicker and more reliably. A US$284 million investment in new bus priority schemes in the capital includes changes to road layouts and junctions and enabling small changes to routes so that buses can avoid traffic hotspots.

Around 50 bus priority schemes were delivered across the Capital in 2015 and a total of 116 will be in place by the end of April.  These improvements will benefit passengers in 17 London boroughs right across the Capital.  

Mike Weston, TfL’s director of buses, said: “London’s continued success means that it is a very busy city with a huge range of construction projects underway, particularly in central London, and this is having an effect on traffic.  To ensure that the bus network remains reliable and efficient, we are investing US$284 million in modernising roads across the Capital so that bus passengers can avoid potential delays to their journeys.  Fifty schemes were completed last year and there are dozens more that will be completed over the next few months, ensuring that bus journeys are as quick and easy as possible.

“We’re working 24-hours a day to relieve congestion through our traffic control centre and cracking down on illegal or inconsiderate drivers through our expanded team of dedicated traffic enforcement officers.”

Bus priority schemes are TfL-funded but delivered in partnership with local boroughs, which are often responsible for the local roads that the buses serve and represent the communities around them.

Related Content

  • August 19, 2022
    Safety first in the Big Apple
    For a variety of reasons, seniors are particularly vulnerable to traffic violence – but better road design can help. Adam Hill examines New York City’s new plan to keep older people from becoming collision statistics
  • July 19, 2013
    Government green lights road and rail improvements
    UK Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has confirmed a £1.2 billion order for more state of-the art trains to transform rail travel on one of Britain’s busiest intercity routes. The 270 carriages will be manufactured in Britain by Hitachi Rail Europe as part of the government’s overall £5.8 billion Intercity Express Programme (IEP). The trains will operate on the East Coast Main Line from 2019 and will deliver significant benefits to passengers, including boosting capacity by 18 per cent, improving trai
  • December 19, 2024
    Great (shared) mobility expectations
    An invitation to attend Movmi's Shared Mobility Fall Masterclass changed the way Adam Hill looked at micromobility - in particular his own attitude to risk
  • February 15, 2013
    Success of London’s congestion charge scheme
    Said to be the biggest congestion charge scheme to launch in any city, the London scheme got off to a smooth start ten years ago on 17 February 2003, much to the surprise of London's then mayor Ken Livingstone, who ten years later says “it turned out better than I expected.” None of the anticipated pre-7am congestion as drivers attempted to avoid the charge happened, and by the end of the first day 57,000 drivers had paid it. The main problem seemed to be that buses were all running ahead of time and had t