IT HAS been more than a week since a controversial new bus lane in Reading came into effect, taking away a traffic lane for motorists.
But how have drivers, pedestrians and councillors been finding the changes?
The new lane was added to the route heading into Reading town centre, between Liverpool Road and Cemetery Junction, last week.
It was put in place after getting approval from Reading Borough Council with the aim of speeding up travel times for public transport users.
Councillor Rob White, the leader of the opposition on the council, observed buses being stuck in traffic before the start of the bus lane.
Cllr White (Green, Park) said: “Greens remain concerned about the impact of the new bus lane on London Road which is slowing everyone down including buses.
“As the Labour-run council’s modelling showed queues of traffic coming into Reading on London Road have increased.
“This is slowing everyone down including buses. However, we won’t see a true picture until September.”
Cllr White pointed out that Church Road in Earley is closed until Sunday, August 1 which has had an impact on traffic.
He said: “By the end of the first week in September we should have a better idea of the impact of the bus lane.”
In a promotion, the council agreed to subsidise £1 fares for 50,000 journeys for park-and-ride customers, which has been welcomed.
Once all these tickets are taken, the returns will cost £4, single journeys £2 and £1 per parked vehicle.
But it has also been pointed out that the intensified traffic for people trying to get to and from their homes in Newtown.
Cllr White has argued that more bus measures were needed prior to implementation of the bus lane.
He said: “Greens thought that the bus lane needed to be introduced with other bus priority measures, extra bus services and measures to get people on the buses to offset the extra congestion.
“Otherwise we end up with the situation we have now which is that bus times into town along London Road increase because buses are caught in the congestion. Unfortunately without these extra measures rat-running will also increase – as we are also seeing.
“The council has said it will be monitoring congestion, rat-running and air pollution following the introduction of the bus lane.
“We will keep chasing this up once schools are back as well as talking to Reading Buses about actual journey times.”
Answering concerns about intensified traffic, a council spokesperson said: “The council believes improving the reliability, speed and frequency of bus services is key to making travelling by bus the natural choice for both residents and visitors, resulting in less congestion, fewer carbon emissions, better air quality and improved health and wellbeing for residents.
“Without making significant changes to the transport infrastructure, including new bus lanes, and providing realistic sustainable transport alternatives, car usage is likely to continue to grow, creating greater levels of congestion and damaging the health of Reading residents.”
