Some roads outside CBD need not have full-day bus lanes

I refer to the letter “Buses more likely to keep to their lanes than cars, light goods vehicles” (March 11).

The writer cited streets such as Orchard Road, Eu Tong Sen Street and Robinson Road to justify bus drivers leaving the bus lanes, as “the bus stops are staggered and not every bus halts at every stop”.

These are roads within the downtown area, where all lanes are filled most of the time. But my observation was about roads outside the Central Business District.

The photo in my letter “LTA should investigate reason some bus drivers avoid bus lanes” (March 10) showed the traffic situation in Crawford Street, where not all lanes are filled outside peak hours.

No bus needs to turn right at nearby Jalan Sultan or Rochor Road. The earliest they need to turn right is at Stamford Road, which is within the CBD and about two kilometres from Crawford Street.

A few buses, however, need to turn left into Jalan Sultan, such as Service 961 and 980. They may do so by keeping to the bus lane.

My point is that there are roads outside the CBD where not all lanes are filled during non-peak periods, and many bus drivers choose to use the second lane rather than the bus lane.

Other motorists should be allowed use the bus lane during non-peak periods to maximise usage of road space.

I suggest that roads such as Crawford Street, Kallang Road, Geylang Road and Victoria Street, where not all lanes are filled during non-peak periods, be changed from full-day bus lanes to normal bus lanes.

Also, the low traffic does not justify the plans to extend full-day bus lane hours to 11pm.

Having said that, I welcome the Land Transport Authority’s Mandatory Give Way to Buses scheme, meant for buses needing to exit from bus bays.

This scheme should be extended to all bus stops that service buses needing to turn right at a near distance.