Action Briefing December 2006 - January 2007
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

Tyburn Road, a Bus Lane came and went

‘Have your say on proposals to improve the route for all users’ invited the leaflet from Birmingham City Council.  A nice leaflet it is too: colour photos, glossy paper, and a short life as the consultation ended on 31 October 2006.

The Tyburn Road bus lane was installed a few years ago, mostly funded by public money originating from Europe.  The bus lane, a dedicated on-road track, was achieved by displacing any remaining parking from the carriageway onto the footway, some junction improvements, and reconstructing the road that was in poor condition through the pounding of HGVs of increasing weight.

The Tyburn Road forms part of the A38 that connects Minworth and Castle Bromwich to the City Centre through the built-up area, an area that is entirely without railway stations.  The bus has a particular importance.

A bus, by transporting typically 50 humans in one vehicle, makes much less of an impression than the cars that could be there in its place.  The bus lane therefore looked empty most of the time.  According to the consultation leaflet, the glossy one, around 17 buses in each direction pass along Tyburn Road every hour.  Whilst some of these go to exotic parts such as Kingsbury, the bulk go to Castle Bromwich and take the upgraded 67 bus route.

In normal life, the bus lane would be accepted, people would find journey times on the bus were predictable, and bus use would step up and thus release road space, parking space and, by reducing vehicle numbers, clear the air.  Dark forces were at work.  Seeing the exposed surface of the road (17 buses an hour does not keep the tarmac hidden from view), some car enthusiasts clamoured for the removal of the bus lane.  Not removal but suspension of the bus lane took place during road-works on the parallel motorway in 2004.  The consultation now, in 2006, was to determine what to do next.

There have already been suggestions. The three groups, Birmingham Friends of the Earth, Transport 2000 West Midlands and Bus Users UK, collected a 2000-name petition from travellers on board bus route 67 and handed it to Birmingham City Council.  The three organisations called for more bus priority in Birmingham and closer partnership working between the major players, including Centro and Travel West Midlands, stating that, at present, progress on tackling traffic congestion in the city was in a state of flux.

None of this message made an impact on the consultation.  The consultation’s options did not even include full reinstatement of the bus lane.  This surely is an improper process.

If the City Council is sending out a message that bus lanes are to be trimmed back, then they are instructing more people to take to their cars.  If more people acquire cars, then the consequences will not just be that disputes about parking on residential streets will grow, it also means tarmacking of front gardens, roads you can’t cross, and not just congestion but gridlock.

John Bentley