Revocation of Bus Lane A329 Oxford Road

Overview

1. The National Bus Strategy ‘Bus Back Better’ was published in March 2021 as part of a £3 billion funding package aimed at building back Britain’s bus services. It sets out how the Government intends to deliver on its commitment to achieve ambitious and far-reading reform of the bus services sector. As part of this funding, the Council were awarded £26m to improve the Bus Services and infrastructure, and to support growth of the public transport network.
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3. The Council published its Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) in October 2021 and established an Enhanced Partnership (EP) with all local bus operators. The EP sets out the schemes and measures to be delivered through the BSIP funding and formed our funding bid to DfT. The content of the EP was approved by the Strategic Environment, Planning and Transport Committee in March 22 and November 22.
4. The BSIP is a sub-strategy and core element of our emerging Reading Transport Strategy, which sets a vision to make Reading a greener and healthier town by providing better sustainable travel choices, including buses. The transport strategy also contributes towards the vision of a net zero carbon Reading by 2023, as set out in the Reading Climate Emergency Strategy.
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6. The proposed scheme for the outbound lane as a part of the Bus Improvement Plan necessitates the removal of the existing inbound lane.
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8. The removal of the eastbound bus lane is not expected to have a detrimental impact on bus or vehicle movements as this section of oxford road has been observed to be relatively free flowing, and traffic will clear through each signal phase at the Grovelands Road Junction, as it is seen to do now.

Objections or comments should be sent in by:

• Filling out the online survey below
• Email to Transport@reading.gov.uk
• Or in writing to M Graham, Head of Legal and Democratic Services, Reading Borough Council, Civic Offices, Reading, RG1 2LU

by no later than 12th April 2024. Please quote ref: A329BusLane if you are responding by email or post.