§ Lord Bradshawasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in the light of traffic congestion and bus operators' punctuality targets, they will suggest to the Traffic Commissioners that, where little is being done to promote buses in the hierarchy of traffic, an officer of the local authority concerned should be summoned before the Traffic Commissioner hearing a complaint about unpunctuality to explain the position. [HL2888]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonThe Traffic Commissioners are responsible for ensuring that bus operators run their local bus services in accordance with the registration, and they can take disciplinary action against them if they do not. While commissioners can take traffic conditions on bus routes into account when determining whether an operator is running reliable services, the allocation of road space is entirely a matter for the local highway authority. Individual authorities are not required to account to the Traffic Commissioners for their policy towards bus priority.
Our guidance to authorities on local transport plans (LTP) makes clear that proposals for bus priority should be contained within the statutory bus strategy which forms part of the LTP. Each local transport authority is required to consult, among others, local bus operators or organisations representing them when drawing up their bus strategy.