Council consults on Acre Lane ‘bus priority corridor’

Lambeth council has opened initial consultations on new bus lanes for Brixton’s Acre Lane.

It has received funding from Transport for London (TfL)’s Bus Priority programme to improve bus journey times on Acre Lane, and to make buses more reliable by introducing a “bus priority corridor”.

TfL says its programme aims to allow buses to navigate freely “without being held up by congestion, parking or other kerbside activity”.

“Streets with dedicated 24/7 bus lanes can also become safer, more pleasant and less polluted places because they help to calm traffic and reduce kerb activities like informal parking and loading,” says TfL.

Lambeth council says it is “engaging with the community” to “better understand how to improve bus journeys and inform our plans for future improvements”.

Acre Lane has been identified as a priority because bus speeds there average as low as 5.2 miles per hour. The mayor’s London Bus Action Plan aims for between 10 and 13mph.

The initial consultation began yesterday (19 January) and ends on Sunday 15 February.

The council said it will collect a range of data to inform its bus priority designs.

For straightforward changes, it usually produces a concept design for people to give feedback on during a “design engagement” phase.

For the more complex “corridors” including those passing through a town centre or covering a significant distance – like Acre Lane – the council first organises an “initial engagement phase” to collect information on people’s journeys, loading/servicing data from local businesses, and to get general feedback from stakeholder organisations like tenant and resident associations.

This information is then used with other data to create a concept design which is presented for feedback by a follow-up engagement phase.

Online engagement and letter drops so the public can stay informed and have their feedback taken on board are part of the initial process, the council said.

In-person events to collect feedback will also be organised. Two “walk and talk” events are planned for Friday 30 and Saturday 31 January (both 10.30am to 12.30pm). Numbers are limited to 15 per event.

Bus priority corridors are intended to:

Improve bus journey times

Reduce traffic and improve air quality, with more people choosing to travel by bus, walk or cycle – the council says its aim is for 85% of journeys to be “sustainable” borough-wide

Make streets safer and healthier, with clearer road layouts that are safer for people walking, cycling and using public transport

Make it easier to access local shops, services and jobs through faster travel.

Following the adoption of its Climate Action Plan in 2022, and its Kerbside Strategy and Road Danger Reduction Strategy in 2023, the council says it wants to explore a range of “bus priority interventions” for Acre Lane.

Proposals will support its wider aims for Lambeth’s transport network, particularly:

Enabling 25% of kerbside space to be allocated to more sustainable uses

Reducing car dependency and decreasing motor traffic by 27% in the borough by 2030

Supporting the delivery of TfL’s Healthy Streets Approach.

“As part of our initial engagement phase, we want to hear from you about the issues that impact your bus journeys, how they could be improved, and what other improvements you would like to see,” the council said.

“This feedback will be used together with other data such as bus speeds, parking pressure and traffic counts to create concept designs for the corridor, which we will publish and consult the community on.”

Further design engagement will then be organised to receive further feedback on specific designs proposals.

The council’s consultation plans are at

https://haveyoursay.lambeth.gov.uk/en-GB/folders/acre-lane