Unenforced traffic ban on oxford street
 

So its the most famous street in London where normal traffic isnt
allowed but it doesnt seem to be enforced at all leading to quite a
lot of supposedly banned traffic using it.

Or does it mean that traffic is banned except for unloading, local
access, disabled traffic, minicabs etc. so infact its much like a
normal road?

Just a niggling thought

Unenforced traffic ban on oxford street
 

In message , Jim Brown
writes

So its the most famous street in London where normal traffic isnt
allowed

Is it? I should have thought that Downing Street was pretty famous ...
but try driving (or even walking) along Downing Street and see what
happens. :)

but it doesnt seem to be enforced at all leading to quite a
lot of supposedly banned traffic using it.

I have not noticed much banned traffic in Oxford Street in recent years.

Or does it mean that traffic is banned except for unloading, local
access, disabled traffic, minicabs etc. so infact its much like a
normal road?

Some parts of Oxford Street have a 24-hour, 7-day a week restriction on
loading. Regulations vary in different parts of the street, but there is
seldom opportunity for private cars to do anything other than a direct
cross.

--
Paul Terry

Unenforced traffic ban on oxford street
 

In message , Jim Brown
writes
So its the most famous street in London where normal traffic isnt
allowed but it doesnt seem to be enforced at all leading to quite a
lot of supposedly banned traffic using it.

The official ban is for no vehicles except buses, taxis and cycles from
7 a.m. to 7pm. Monday to Saturday. The signs are meant to turn off
outside these times but frequently do not.

You can legally enter Oxford Street from Poland Street (forced left but
there is no ban on the U turn if you can do so without obstructing other
road users), Binney Street and Hills Place.

Or does it mean that traffic is banned except for unloading, local
access, disabled traffic, minicabs etc. so infact its much like a
normal road?

No one seems to enforce the rules so it gets progressively worse as
people get to know that they will not be stopped. It's the same in
Western Road, Brighton.

That's the trouble. With no one enforcing the rules there is a greater
and greater disregard for the law. This ends up with the authorities
saying that the problem is too great to deal with so that the problem
becomes progressively worse. That used to be the case when parking
enforcement was done by police controlled wardens, but with local
authority parking wardens now enforcing the rules there are now less
infringements. Perhaps there should be a similar system in place for
those who flout the laws in Oxford Street

Now don't get me started on those who use the bus lanes when they
shouldn't :-))

Mike

--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England

Unenforced traffic ban on oxford street
 

Now don't get me started on those who use the bus lanes when they
shouldn't :-))


What make me laugh is people who DON'T use bus lanes when they SHOULD ;-)

Unenforced traffic ban on oxford street
 

In message , purple pete
writes
Now don't get me started on those who use the bus lanes when they
shouldn't :-))


What make me laugh is people who DON'T use bus lanes when they SHOULD ;-)


I think they're great as they leave plenty of space for me in my taxi
:-)

The trouble is that there are so many variations in the times and
authorise vehicles for the bus lanes that it gets very confusing, even
for us professionals. There are some lanes in the city where taxis are
excluded, even though we are allowed in nearly all of the others.

I think that's why so many people keep out of them even during times
when they can legally use them.

--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England

Unenforced traffic ban on oxford street
 

I think I recall a lady who failed her driving test for NOT using a bus lane
outside of prohibited hrs.

They have just removed a bus lane cam near here as it was making £1M - yes
thats right, £1M - locals went mad when they found out - its position was
very bad too which caused alot of people to get caught out - and to be fair
knowing the area and the junction it was in a silly place.

Unenforced traffic ban on oxford street
 

In article , purple pete
writes
They have just removed a bus lane cam near here as it was making £1M - yes
thats right, £1M

Over what period?

Assuming the fine is £100, that's 10 *thousand* people being caught. If
that amount is measured over a year and the lane operates 6 days a week,
that's 33 people a day or perhaps 3 an hour.

- locals went mad when they found out

What, at how many of them misuse the bus lane?

- its position was
very bad too which caused alot of people to get caught out - and to be fair
knowing the area and the junction it was in a silly place.

Either it covered a bus lane or it didn't. If it did, then what's the
beef? If it didn't, then surely someone would have appealed in very
short order, meaning that it would *not* have "made" the amounts
suggested.

--
Clive D.W. Feather | Home:
Tel: +44 20 8495 6138 (work) | Web: http://www.davros.org
Fax: +44 870 051 9937 | Work:
Please reply to the Reply-To address, which is:

Unenforced traffic ban on oxford street
 

"purple pete" typed


I think I recall a lady who failed her driving test for NOT using a bus lane
outside of prohibited hrs.

They have just removed a bus lane cam near here as it was making £1M - yes
thats right, £1M - locals went mad when they found out - its position was
very bad too which caused alot of people to get caught out - and to be fair
knowing the area and the junction it was in a silly place.



You live local to me &ICM£5

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

Unenforced traffic ban on oxford street
 

"Mike Hughes" wrote in message
...
The trouble is that there are so many variations in the times and
authorise vehicles for the bus lanes that it gets very confusing, even
for us professionals.

Perhaps, but I tend to avoid using bus lanes because you invariably end up
coming across obstructions like stopped buses or parked cars, and have to
then merge into an unsympathetic line of traffic. I can't be bothered with
the hassle of this, plus the risk of accident / general increase in stress
levels - if only most people in London drove with such calmness!

Of course, when I'm cycling round London it's another matter!

Unenforced traffic ban on oxford street
 

"Clive D. W. Feather" typed


In article , purple pete
writes
They have just removed a bus lane cam near here as it was making £1M - yes
thats right, £1M

Over what period?

Assuming the fine is £100, that's 10 *thousand* people being caught. If
that amount is measured over a year and the lane operates 6 days a week,
that's 33 people a day or perhaps 3 an hour.

- locals went mad when they found out

What, at how many of them misuse the bus lane?
No, at the scale of the money involved ;-)

- its position was
very bad too which caused alot of people to get caught out - and to be fair
knowing the area and the junction it was in a silly place.

Either it covered a bus lane or it didn't. If it did, then what's the
beef? If it didn't, then surely someone would have appealed in very
short order, meaning that it would *not* have "made" the amounts
suggested.

If purple is discussing the camera I think he is, it was £800,000 over a
year. That's 20-30 per day, which doesn't sound quite so dramatic! The
bus lane operates from 7-10 am and 4-7pm IIRC.

It was on the A5 High Street Edgware/Burnt Oak Broadway on (Southbound I
think) approach to the traffic lights at its junction with Deansbrook
Road/Camrose Avenue. Traffic which does not wish to turn right tends to
avoid the queues by diving into the bus lane. There are several car
dealerships near the junction.

There are many petrol hotheads round here...

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

Unenforced traffic ban on oxford street
 

Mike Hughes wrote:

In message , purple pete
writes
What make me laugh is people who DON'T use bus lanes when they SHOULD ;-)
The trouble is that there are so many variations in the times and
authorise vehicles for the bus lanes that it gets very confusing, even
for us professionals. There are some lanes in the city where taxis are
excluded, even though we are allowed in nearly all of the others.

I try to use them when legal, but if you don't know the road it's a
significant distraction having to read the rules for each short section.

Colin McKenzie

Unenforced traffic ban on oxford street
 

Colin McKenzie wrote to uk.transport.london on Thu, 9 Sep 2004:

Mike Hughes wrote:

In message , purple
pete writes
What make me laugh is people who DON'T use bus lanes when they SHOULD ;-)
The trouble is that there are so many variations in the times and
authorise vehicles for the bus lanes that it gets very confusing, even
for us professionals. There are some lanes in the city where taxis are
excluded, even though we are allowed in nearly all of the others.

I try to use them when legal, but if you don't know the road it's a
significant distraction having to read the rules for each short section.

And, as someone else said, when they are legal there is invariably
someone, or several someones, parked in them!
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/

Unenforced traffic ban on oxford street
 

In article , Helen Deborah
Vecht writes
If purple is discussing the camera I think he is, it was £800,000 over a
year. That's 20-30 per day, which doesn't sound quite so dramatic! The
bus lane operates from 7-10 am and 4-7pm IIRC.

So roughly one offender every 15 minutes.

Traffic which does not wish to turn right tends to
avoid the queues by diving into the bus lane.

And then whinges when it gets snapped doing so, right?

So perhaps Mr purple can explain what the problem is?

--
Clive D.W. Feather | Home:
Tel: +44 20 8495 6138 (work) | Web: http://www.davros.org
Fax: +44 870 051 9937 | Work:
Please reply to the Reply-To address, which is:

Unenforced traffic ban on oxford street
 

"Clive D. W. Feather" typed


In article , Helen Deborah
Vecht writes
If purple is discussing the camera I think he is, it was £800,000 over a
year. That's 20-30 per day, which doesn't sound quite so dramatic! The
bus lane operates from 7-10 am and 4-7pm IIRC.

So roughly one offender every 15 minutes.

Traffic which does not wish to turn right tends to
avoid the queues by diving into the bus lane.

And then whinges when it gets snapped doing so, right?

Yup! Didddums...

So perhaps Mr purple can explain what the problem is?

I passed the area on a bus recently and think the bus lane opposite is
full-time so the contentious one might be too. I apologise if I
inadvertantly posted misinformation.

30 snaps a day might seemingly represent a lot of cash, but it's not
really much traffic, given the traffic flow, is it?

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

Unenforced traffic ban on oxford street
 

"Clive D. W. Feather" wrote in message
...

Traffic which does not wish to turn
right tends to avoid the queues by
diving into the bus lane.

And then whinges when it gets snapped doing so, right?

So perhaps Mr purple can explain what the problem is?

The problem is that bus lane cameras are not billed as "A solution to the
problem of cars undertaking right-turners", they are billed as "A solution
to the problem of buses being held up by traffic". Placing the camera where
it will fine cars undertaking right-turners is dishonest immoral taxation. I
don't see why bus lanes shouldn't be treated like box junctions - no-one
should be fined unless they actually stop in one.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

Unenforced traffic ban on oxford street
 

John Rowland wrote:

"Clive D. W. Feather" wrote...

Traffic which does not wish to turn
right tends to avoid the queues by
diving into the bus lane.

And then whinges when it gets snapped doing so, right?

So perhaps Mr purple can explain what the problem is?

The problem is that bus lane cameras are not billed as "A solution to the
problem of cars undertaking right-turners", they are billed as "A solution
to the problem of buses being held up by traffic". Placing the camera where
it will fine cars undertaking right-turners is dishonest immoral taxation. I
don't see why bus lanes shouldn't be treated like box junctions - no-one
should be fined unless they actually stop in one.

Aside from the obvious problem of cars getting trapped behind stopped
buses, there's the problem of buses being held up by cars moving at a
crawl to avoid having to actually stop!

Unenforced traffic ban on oxford street
 

"Aidan Stanger" wrote in message
...
John Rowland wrote:

The problem is that bus lane cameras are not billed as
"A solution to the problem of cars undertaking right-turners",
they are billed as "A solution to the problem of buses being
held up by traffic". Placing the camera where it will fine cars
undertaking right-turners is dishonest immoral taxation. I don't
see why bus lanes shouldn't be treated like box junctions -
no-one should be fined unless they actually stop in one.

Aside from the obvious problem of cars
getting trapped behind stopped buses

What's the problem? They went into a box junction without their exit being
clear. Prosecute them.

there's the problem of buses being held up by cars
moving at a crawl to avoid having to actually stop!

You're treating my suggestion too literally. If they are holding up a bus,
the camera on the bus would film them and they would be fined. The main
thing is that if you want to do a left turn a few hundred metres ahead, I
don't see why you shouldn't be allowed to use the bus lane. The current
implementation of the law does not match the expressed intention of the law.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes