Seafront bus lane idea stalls as groups question practicality

Environment & Infrastructure said that while opportunities for creating a dedicated infrastructure for public vehicles were limited in Guernsey, the idea was worth investigating.

Bus passengers were currently subject to the same delays as they would be in a car, and data indicated that journey times could be cut by as much as 10 minutes during the morning peak.

Bus Users Group co-ordinator Fergus Dunlop said creating a dedicated lane for buses and taxis would slow down the rest of the traffic and it would be important to understand what the ‘pay-off’ would be.

Most bus users were also drivers, he said. ‘From a bus user’s point of view the key things are punctuality, reliability and a logical timetable.

‘Part of a logical timetable is having journeys as short as possible while taking into consideration the needs of other road users.’

Adding such a lane would be an expensive operation and this should happen only when all suggestions for things that did not cost money had been exhausted.

‘At the moment we have empty buses running between the terminus and the depot and, while they need to do that, I think more could be made of it if people were allowed to get on them,’ said Mr Dunlop.

Guernsey branch of Living Streets chairman Tom Le Pelley said he was not sure that creating such a lane would bring any advantage.

‘You would still have a pinch-point after the Red Lion,’ he said.

‘I do sympathise with those who are stuck in traffic that can stretch back to the oil tanks [in Bulwer Avenue] but by the time you got to Salerie Corner I think things would have slowed up again.

‘I’d also hate to see anything that would jeopardise the paths for cyclists and pedestrians as active travel should be top of the transport hierarchy,’ he said.

Advocate Abel Lyall said he used the cycle paths along the route a lot with his children. ‘You need to improve transport links into Town,’ he said.

‘From my point of view I’d like to see the current cycle paths improved as there could be better separation between cyclists and traffic but I appreciate that there will be trade-offs.’

Finance worker Roxanne Allen, 30, who lives on the seafront, said it sounded like another waste of money. ‘I don’t like sitting in queues of traffic any more than anyone else but having a dedicated lane for public transport is not going to encourage me to get on a bus,’ she said.

‘I walk my dogs on that piece of common [between the road and the seawall] every day and it’s very important to me. What would it look like along here without it?’