Irish group wants bike, bus lanes scrapped; says congestion would ease

The group believes bus and bike lanes are damaging business and want them removed so traffic could flow more freely.

 

An Irish business lobby group wants city planners to remove many bus lanes, which double as bike lanes, so “a world-class sustainable transport system” could be developed instead.

Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce (BCTC) wants the lanes scrapped because it believes downgrading travel by bus and bike will boost sustainable travel in Belfast.

The proposal has been met with derision, with many pointing out that bikes and buses are the most sustainable forms of transport.

Infrastructure Minister Chris Hazzard said he would "happily meet anybody who can evidentially show bus lanes are bad for business".

The trade group’s president Gordon McElroy set out its vision in a submission to the Northern Ireland Assembly Committee for Infrastructure.

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“We propose to the Department that it be more radical and remove the non-BRT-related bus lanes as an experiment, as was done in Liverpool, where it was found that traffic was freed up and moved much more easily through the city,” he said.

Mr McElroy added a common complaint from people coming into Belfast for business was their difficulty in accessing the city.

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“We regularly hear that clients and customers avoid coming to Belfast because of access issues," he said. "Some of that may be perception but some of it is real.

“There are things that create perceptions, such as the introduction of the 20 mph zone and the bus lane cameras and the press attention on the amount of revenue that is being generated from them.

"Those things frighten people from coming into the city. Our members and the people who deal with them are most concerned about the amount of confusion that is being created by the bus lanes in Belfast.

“They are concerned that the bus lanes are operating at different times.

"Corporation Street, for example, has a bus lane but only one bus service up and down it and there is never congestion on it.

“The layout on Oxford Street is another concern. These are all things that are detrimental to people moving around the city.

“It does not mean that there should not be bus lanes or lanes set aside for specific types of traffic to improve transport flow.

“We really support the introduction of Belfast rapid transit, and the bus lanes that serve it should be there."