London bus lane #fail

Guest post by Richard Leeming, @dickdotcom

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On balance, the best way to get round London is on two wheels, either bicycle or motorbike. Sure there are irritations, but they’re outweighed by the bonuses. Especially when an irritation can be transformed into a bonus this quickly and easily.

When Boris Johnson generously threw open bus lanes to motorcyclists, after, oooo loads of consultation and communication, the cyclist bit of me was a bit nervous but the motorcyclist was delighted.

Until I discovered the fact that I’d missed … there are two sorts of bus lanes in London … those owned by TFL and those owned by the councils.

So it’s easy, if a bus lane has got a red line down the side you can ride your motorbike in it, if it hasn’t you can’t. Seems I’m not the only one confused.

Obviously when riding down Bloomsbury Street in the rain, a difficult and congested street at the best of times, I sought the sanctuary of the bus lane. Oooops, Flash, Ticket, that’ll be £60 says the nice man at Camden Council.

So what you do in these circumstances is turn to twitter for a moan … and instantly @paul_clarke suggested I complain.

And you know what, it’s easy.

Seems like I’m not alone.

My grounds for the complaint were that the distinction between TFL bus lanes and borough bus lanes had not been properly communicated, the policy was unsafe as it diverted a motorcyclist’s attention from the traffic, and thus the issue of a charge was unfair. Two days later, I related this story at a friend’s house and he said he’d been ticketed, had complained along similar lines to me and had got off. So no great surprise when I get a letter letting me off this fine, so long as I don’t do it again.

So the message of this slightly underwhelming tale is: complain, it’s easy and effective!