According to Valerie Shawcross
http://valshawcross.com/
“Evaluation report on motorcyclists in bus lanes to be out before lunchTfL website. Experiment may be extended, motorbike speeding an issue.”
I had a quick scan of the report and copied and pasted some of the conclusions here. Obviously they will have more meaning in the context of the entire document which can be found here.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/MIBL-report-2010.pdf
Conclusions - Bus Lane Usage
Illegal use by motorcycles (Before survey) varied from 0% to 35%.
Percentage of motorcycles using the bus lanes increased on all sites
in the After survey: varying between 27% to 80%, with an average
of 51%.
Motorcycles using the bus lane did not adversely affect the
percentage of cyclists using it.
The percentage of cyclists using the footway slightly reduced in the
After survey.
Conclusions - Changes in Modes and Routes
There was a small (4%) increase in the number of motorcycles
using the Main routes after they were permitted access to the bus
lanes, and a corresponding 2% decrease on the Control sites.
The slight (implied) migration of motorcycles onto the Main routes
was statistically significant.
The number of cyclists increased by 16% on the Main Routes and
13% on the Control Routes.
The modal share remained fairly constant on both the Main and the
Control routes, with the variation generally being 1% or less.
Conclusions - Speeds and Journey Times on Studied Sites
Bus speeds were unaffected by permitting motorcycles access to
the bus lanes.
Non-priority traffic speeds remained reasonably constant on the
Main and Control sites.
Motorcycle speeds increased after they were permitted access to
the bus lanes.
There was an increase in the percentage of motorcycles exceeding
the speed limit.
Conclusions - Collision Rates on Studied Sites
The analysis implied:
Collision rates involving motorcycles significantly increased (at the
95% confidence level) on the Main sites, although some caution is
needed as the sample size is relatively small.
Collision rates involving cycles significantly increased (at the 95%
confidence level) on the Main sites, although, again, caution should
be applied as the sample size is relatively small.
Collision rates involving pedestrians did not significantly change.
Conclusions - Detailed Examination of Collisions
The increase in motorcycle collisions did not appear to be a result
of a settling down period for the scheme.
The increase in motorcycle collisions generally involved cars
turning left into and out of side roads.
The severity level of the motorcycle collisions had increased with a
25% increase in slight injury and a 50% increase in serious injury
collisions, although the numbers involved in the sample are small
and should be treated with caution.
The increase in cycle collisions could be partially explained by the
increase in cycle flows.
It appeared that the change in cycle collisions was not a result of
motorcyclists being permitted access to the bus lane.
Conclusions - Conflicts Involving Motorcycles or Cycles
The number of level 1 conflicts involving motorcycles, decreased
after they were permitted access to the bus lane probably as a
result of the motorcyclists being segregated from the main traffic
flow. However, these were unlikely to have safety implications.
There was a small increase (from 4 to 8) in the number of level 2
conflicts after motorcycles were permitted access to the bus lane.
The number of conflicts in severity level 3 were too few (four in
total) to enable robust comparison, although more conflicts were
seen in the After survey.
In general increases in bus lane conflicts were as a result of more
cars turning left into, or out of, side roads (albeit this conclusion is
based on small numbers).
Conclusions - Collision Rates on the Network
The relative change in collision rates on the TLRN roads with a bus
lane compared and other lanes appears to imply that permitting
motorcycles access to bus lanes:
o increased motorcyclists‟ chance of having a collision.
o did not affect cyclists‟ chance of having a collision
o did not affect pedestrians‟ chance of having a collision
Some of the pics on pages 86-89 are of interest
Vehicle Speed & Journey Times
Bus speeds were unaffected by permitting motorcycles access to the bus lanes.
General, non-priority traffic, speeds remained reasonably constant on the Main
and Control sites.
Motorcycle speeds increased after they were permitted access to the bus lanes,
and there was an increase in the percentage of motorcycles exceeding the speed
limit. This is consistent with the hypothesis that motorcycles used the bus lanes
to gain a journey time advantage.
Overall Conclusions
The effect of permitting motorcycles into bus lanes has been assessed
after 10 months of implementation. This analysis period is the minimum
where any reasonably large effects can be ascertained. This has identified
that motorcyclists appear to be less safe since the scheme has been
introduced. There were no changes in the safety of cyclists and
pedestrians that could be directly attributed to the motorcycles being
permitted access to the bus lanes.
Thanks for posting this. The way I read it should be made permanent. The reported increase in danger is mainly a result of car drivers not checking the bus lane is clear before turning. Most of us know they do this and hence we avoid passing in the bus lane approaching junctions. These sort of accidents will decrease over time as bikers become more aware. Another option would be to change the road markings at junctions so drivers are more actively encouraged to look for bikes.
The safety benefits of having another option on the road far outweigh the negatives IMO.
It is a worry that the number of accidents increased, you would have hoped that they would decrease.It gives the Mayor the perfect excuse to deny the extension of the scheme.
The result is out!
<A class=postlink onclick=“window.open(this.href);return false;” href=“http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/15795.aspx”>http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/n … 15795.aspx
And the result is… another trial. 
The review reads well and strongly in favour of motorcyclists using the bus lanes. So a further trial is not a problem, but seeks to address the issues of motorcyclist speeding in bus lanes and car drivers not looking at junctions. No problem in so far as I can see!
Liked this quote from Boris.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: * **'Motorcyclists have made a consistent case to be able to use TfL’s bus lanes, and the initial trial has shown some positive results.
The chaos that was predicted by some doomsayers has clearly not materialised and, as I suspected would be the case, we have found substantial support for the measure.
There is always scope for improvement and a new trial, with a strong focus on safety, will allow motorcyclists to show that they can adhere to the spirit of the trial and ride with respect.
The impact of these new measures will help us decide whether motorcyclists can continue to use the bus lanes in future years.
One of the ways we can smooth traffic flow is by encouraging more people to get on two wheels, and the prospect of using bus lanes to avoid traffic and having an easier journey should help with that aim.’** *
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: 'Motorcyclists have made a consistent case to be able to use TfL’s bus lanes, and the initial trial has shown some positive results.
'The chaos that was predicted by some doomsayers has clearly not materialised and, as I suspected would be the case, we have found substantial support for the measure.
'There is always scope for improvement and a new trial, with a strong focus on safety, will allow motorcyclists to show that they can adhere to the spirit of the trial and ride with respect.
‘The impact of these new measures will help us decide whether motorcyclists can continue to use the bus lanes in future years.’
Do you know what, I really rather like Boris. Despite appearing to be an utter buffoon he often makes perfect, rational sense.
hahaha… snap!
good!! so how long will the new trial last?
edit:
**
“During the interim period between the current trial ending on 5 July and the new one beginning on or around 16 July, TfL won’t enforce against motorcyclists who use bus lanes, although they will continue to be expected to respect the speed limit and all other rules of the road.”**
So does this mean after July 5th we can use ALL bus lanes?
I’m assuming they’ll just keep it to the current ones until the end of this next trial.
Maybe the report should have gone a bit further by dividing m/bike accidents into learner/scooter riders and full licence riders.
Hopefully not as long as the Bloody Sunday one;)
And hopefully the cost wont be the same £100(ish) million:w00t:
[wind-up mode/] Perhaps the new trial will last as long as the parking protests continue? [/exit wind-up mode]
I think not using the lanes at junctions is a bit of an extreme reaction. A bit of common sense is required here. Just slow down, position yourself centrally in the lane, cover your brakes and “keep your eyes peeled”!!
I always thought we could only use the red route bus lanes. is it actually all of them?
I’m not saying I always move out of the bus lane at junctions- although there are a few congested junctions where I do just that- I’m saying I try not to undertake a car that I think might be about to turn left at the junction- simple really but it sounds as if people are getting caught out by this. In practice when riding in the bus lane I try to slow down if there is a slowing car in the main carriageway as we come up to a junction and hang at a safe distance behind him (ideally far enough back so as not to be in his blind spot) until he has passed the junction before then (usually) going past him ;). I now never trust indicators and always assume that any inexplicable change in the car’s speed means the car is about to swerve one way or the other. As you probably know in parts of South London the de rigeur method for cars turning left is to swerve across the bus lane at the last possible moment without checking behind and without indicating (as this would be un-cool). Incidentally if the main carriageway is clear I do usually use it for passing junctions as there are drivers who when emerging from a side road overshoot or think that they can charge straight into the bus lane with impunity. 
Its just common sense really, when approaching a side road whether in a bus lane or just filtering passed traffic then you should always be on the guard for cagers suddenly turning.
In fact advanced riding avoids overtaking on the approach to a side road, it should be similar in the case of a bus lane.
Everyday on my commute I see guys blasting off down the bus lane, they risk either a car collision as described or hitting someone walking out at traffic lights when they are on green but when the cages are stationary - I narrowly missed someone once at the start of the trials and now always slow right down at side junctions and ped crossings.
you guys checking out the news I’ve posted up today?