Access battle rages on as petition urging gov to allow motorbikes in bus lanes hits 10k in one week

A petition urging the government to reverse its decision to not allow motorcycles to access bus lanes by default has gained over 10,000 signatures within just one week of going live.

Launched by the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG), the appeal takes aim at the Labour government, which, on 21 November 2024, rejected a motion to open bus lane usage to all two-wheeled traffic automatically, following a Department for Transport (DfT) online consultation that ran from 17 March to 16 July.

Labour announced at the time that they had “no policy to encourage greater use of motorcycles.”
The announcement came despite overwhelming calls for a change in policy, with 96% of the 14,327 respondents strongly agreeing that ‘If it is safe to do so, motorcycles should be allowed to access bus lanes by default.’ This compared with just 151 who strongly disagreed.

In January, the government doubled down, refusing to look further into the matter, with Minister of State at the DfT, Lord Hendy, of Richmond Hill stating: “The Department has no plans at present to carry out research into the safety impacts of allowing greater access to bus lanes.”

Access the petition here.