(19 Nov 2023, 12:08 pm)Andreos1 wrote Many local authorities have done this though. 
Whether it's bus lanes or bus priority measures - we've seen operators ignore them (Wardley Bus Gate and Centrelink as two examples) . Or, we've seen pollution increase (Newcastle City Centre being evident in many of the pollution hot-spot lists). 

It also pushes the narrative that public transport is only better, if travelling in the private car is made difficult. 
Isn't public transport strong enough to stand on its own two feet, without pointing the finger and acting like a petulant child? 
Don't they have enough nous in the industry to come up with something good - that doesn't involve standing with their begging bowl that helps fund new vehicles, a fancier ticket machine that links to an app or WiFi options?

The bus will always be slower than the car though, as it stops at various points to pick up and drop off, even if the route was identical. That kind of suggests that it does need 'help' to be a comparable option that the government and politicians keep shouting about, as it cannot fly over congestion (yet).

That help needs to be major investment in bus priority (doesn't need to be to the detriment of the car at all, if it is considered and implemented with thought, it can compliment). Unfortunately, none of our authorities are that clever to devise such a scheme.

Public Transport can apparently stand up on its own two feet yes, as evidenced by London and Manchester.... (ignoring the sheer volume of subsidy from public funds needed for both of them, but nobody talks about that, only moaning about commercial operators with their 'begging bowl' instead). When the North East goes that way, which we all know it will, the viability and performance of the network both land at the feet of the authorities and we may see some change then.

Until that time, get used to slower bus journeys.