From the look of it, this is not going to be good for the cyclists. Motorcycles, Scooters AND Cars need restraint not encouragement. The statement by Boris: <div style="margin-left: 40px;">"One of the ways we can ease congestion is by encouraging more people to get on their bike, whether pedal or powered, and I believe they should be able to share our bus lanes successfully and safely. " </div> shows that his focus is obviously on reducing congestion for Cars (encouraging more people to get on their bike, whether pedal or powered), and not improve safety and convenience of (pedal) cyclists, who actually need to be given the most sops. It's a pity to see years of good work by Ken Livingstone being slowly dismantled. -- Sujit <div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 6:33 AM, Sudhir <<a href="mailto:sudhir@cai-asia.org">sudhir@cai-asia.org</a>> wrote: <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> <div>Readers may find this interesting ( Source - BBC)</div> <div> </div> Motorcyclists are now allowed to use some of London's bus lanes. From Monday, motorcyclists will be able to ride in the restricted lanes for an 18-month trial period. Transport for London (TfL) said it hoped the measure would cut accidents and traffic in the capital. The change will only apply to TfL bus lanes. Pedal cyclists, who already use the lanes, have been against the scheme claiming it would not improve safety or reduce congestion. Vulnerable road users The scheme is one of London Mayor Boris Johnson's election pledges. He said: "I have long been staggered that while motorcyclists can use bus lanes in many other cities and some of our boroughs they were not allowed to use the TfL routes that criss-cross the capital. "One of the ways we can ease congestion is by encouraging more people to get on their bike, whether pedal or powered, and I believe they should be able to share our bus lanes successfully and safely. " In June last year the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) presented the mayor with a 3,000-name petition asking him to reconsider the plans. In a letter to the mayor, LCC's chief executive Koy Thomson said: "While we would support measures to make motorcycling safer, such as a 20mph speed limit, there is no clear environmental, safety or congestion reason for allowing motorcycles into bus lanes." Jeff Stone, of the British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF), said allowing motorcycles in bus lanes would make it safer "for all vulnerable road users". <div> Read More : <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7811062.stm" target="_blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7811062.stm</a> & <a href="http://www.mcia.co.uk/Public/Bus.aspx?OBJ_ID=1321720" target="_blank">http://www.mcia.co.uk/Public/Bus.aspx?OBJ_ID=1321720</a></div> <div> -- Sudhir Gota Transport Specialist CAI-Asia Center Unit 3510, 35th Floor, Robinsons-Equitable Tower, ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City Metro Manila, Philippines 1605 Tel: +63-2-395-2843 Fax: +63-2-395-2846 <a href="http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia" target="_blank">http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia</a> Skype : sudhirgota </div> -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to <a href="http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss" target="_blank">http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss</a> to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). </blockquote></div> -- ------------------------------------------------------ Sujit Patwardhan <a href="mailto:sujitjp@gmail.com">sujitjp@gmail.com</a> "Yamuna", ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007 India Tel: +91 20 25537955 Cell: +91 98220 26627 ----------------------------------------------------- Hon. Secretary: Parisar <a href="http://www.parisar.org">www.parisar.org</a> ------------------------------------------------------ Founder Member: PTTF (Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum) <a href="http://www.pttf.net">www.pttf.net</a> ------------------------------------------------------