Appendix A

Review of Bus Use in Dunstable Road

1.0 BACKGROUND 1.1. In 2014 a child pedestrian was fatally injured in an accident involving a bus in Dunstable Road, Bury Park. Although, the Coroner ruled that it was a road traffic accident the community have raised concerns about the use of Dunstable Road by buses.

1.2. Comments made in a public consultation for highway improvements in Dunstable Road, Bury Park highlighted the following concerns:-

• Buses stopping at bus stops in the traffic lane caused congestion and re-introduction of bus stop laybys was suggested. • There was concern that either there were too many bus stops or they were in the wrong location causing congestion. • There was a suggestion that the bus route should be diverted. • Bus indicator boards were requested for all bus stops.

1.3. A petition was submitted to the Council in July 2016 signed by 406 residents and visitors to Dunstable Road. The petition stated ‘we call upon Arriva Bus services and Luton Borough Council to hold a full consultation of the busway route which Arriva services use through Bury Park. August 2014, 3 year old Baby Mayah was involved in a collision involving an Arriva Bus which resulted to a loss of life. The community of Luton and Family would take this opportunity to forward a proposal to allow Portfolio holders of Bury Park to re-examine this Bus Route. After producing a private independent Risk assessment which concluded many safety issues within this Busy Area; the report outlined Buses were found to be dangerous vehicles utilising these narrow roads ‘mounting the kerbs’.

2.0 REGULATIONS 2.1. The Transport Act 1985 deregulated local bus services. This means that accredited operators can determine where they operate services as long as they give 56 days’ notice to the Traffic Commissioner of their intention to commence, cease or alter a bus route. 2.2. The Council as Highway Authority may introduce Traffic Regulation Orders under the Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to restrict the use of any road. Therefore, in theory the Council could advertise a Traffic Regulation Order restricting the use of Dunstable Road, Bury Park by service buses. However, a public enquiry must be held if an objection is made by the local bus operator. Suffice to say this is very likely to be the case. It is also considered that should a public enquiry be held the Inspector would not rule in favour of restricting the use of Dunstable Road, Bury Park by service buses due to the fact there is no alternative route and it would leave a large section of the community without a bus service.

3.0 CURRENT SITUATION 3.1. Buses using Dunstable Road, Bury Park start from Luton Town Centre and then travel out to Sundon Park and beyond, Hockwell Ring, Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Farley Hill. The routes are shown in Appendix A.

3.2. More than 500 service buses stop in Dunstable Road per weekday with nearly one million boarding and alighting in the area last year. There are slightly less buses stopping at weekends.

3.3. The services run by Arriva and Centrebus and are as follows:

• 20 – Luton – Marsh Road – Toddington – (Pulloxhill) • 27 - Luton – Bury Park – Leagrave – Marsh Farm • 28 – Hockwell Ring – Leagrave – Luton – Farley Hill – Luton – Leagrave – Hockwell Ring • 31 – Luton – Bury Park – L&D Hospital - Dunstable • X31 – Luton – Dunstable – Toddington/ Hemel Hempstead/Milton Keynes • 32 – Luton – Bury Park – Beechwood Road – Addington Way – Luton • 33 – Luton – Bury Park – L&D Hospital – Lewsey Farm

3.4. There are five bus stops in Dunstable Road, Bury Park. Appendix B shows which services stop at each bus stop.

Town Bound • Outside Sainsbury’s • Outside Rabi Fashions (outside 142 -144 Dunstable Road)

Out of Town • Outside Lifestyles (outside 137 – 155 Dunstable Road) • Outside Aman Solicitors (outside 223 Dunstable Road) serving buses 20, 27 and 28) • Outside Luton Community Health and Fitness Centre (outside 231 Dunstable Road) serving buses 31, 31X, 32 and 33.

4.0 REVIEW OF ISSUES RAISED The route

4.1. Dunstable Road, Bury Park is used by seven services. Four going towards Dunstable and three towards Leagrave.

4.2. To prevent them using Dunstable Road through Bury Park would mean that the town bound service would have to use Bury Park Road and then either Crawley Road and out onto Telford Road or Moor Street to return to Bury Park.

4.3. Bury Park Road is a residential street with a significant amount of parking both legally in parking bays and illegally on yellow lines. Parking would have to be reviewed with more stringent waiting restrictions enforced and could result in a reduction in the number of parking bays. It is likely that residents would not be in favour of bus services being routed along this route. The bus company is also not in favour of this route.

4.4. Out of town services towards Dunstable would have to use Hatters Way and Chaul End Lane. Out of town services towards Leagrave would have to use Telford Way, New Bedford Road and Montrose Avenue. This would leave a large section of Biscot ward not served by a bus service. Residents of the area who use the bus services would not be in favour and the bus company have also stated that they would not be in favour.

Width of carriageway

4.5. The carriageway in Dunstable Road is 7.2m wide with a general traffic lane in each direction for the majority of the shopping area.

4.6. The lanes are 3m wide which is the standard width for urban situations.

4.7. Buses are around 2.5m wide including their wing mirrors and therefore, there is enough room for buses to stay within the running lane however, poor or inconsiderate parking may mean that on-coming vehicles make the bus drivers drive close to the kerb.

Bus lay-bys

4.8. Modern road design does not recommend the use of bus stop laybys. Inconsiderate and illegal parking prevents buses reaching the kerb and results in passenger having difficulty boarding and alighting. This is especially a problem for the elderly, less mobile and people with pushchairs who need to be able to assess the bus on a level surface.

4.9. Modern traffic flow also prevents buses getting out into the running lane in a timely manner making it more difficult for them to keep to time along the bus route. Punctuality along bus routes is monitored by the Traffic Commissioner and they can penalise Bus Operators if punctuality is unacceptable.

4.10. Bus laybys also need a lot more kerb line than a bus stop that is in line with the running lane as the bus has to pull into and line up with the kerbs. This would mean that parking spaces would be lost.

Location of bus stops

4.11. Town bound there are two bus stops. One near Bury Park Road (opposite Ivy Road) and the other outside Sainsbury. A distance of more than 400m.

4.12. Out of Town there are three bus stops. One near the Community Centre and two on the Birch Link gyratory. The first outside Aman Solicitors is used by the buses going towards Leagrave and cannot be moved as they need to get across to the right hand lane prior to the traffic signals to go to Leagrave Road.

4.13. The second is outside Luton Community Health and Fitness Centre and serves the buses going towards Dunstable.

4.14. An investigation into whether the bus stop outside Luton Community Health and Fitness Centre could be relocated has been carried out. Two locations have been considered.

a) relocate to adjacent to stop outside Aman Solicitors – not possible because the location of the traffic signal loops.

b) relocate on Beech Hill – not possible due to the distance it would have to be from the stop outside the Community Centre due to the proximity of the Birch Link traffic signals, location of the southbound bus stop and location of the zebra crossing.

Accident data

4.15. Using the Council’s accident database there have been seven accidents involving buses or coaches in Dunstable Road, Bury Park in the last five years. One was tragically fatal and the others involved slight injury. The bus/coach driver was not deemed to be at fault for the majority of these accidents.

4.16. Injury accidents involving bus/coach 2011 to 2015

Date Injury Description

January Pedestrian Pedestrian walked out between parked 2011 vehicles into path of bus/coach. slight

October Car driver and Car turned left across bus lane colliding with 2011 passenger bus/coach.

slight

January Pedestrian Person gone to get on a bus but it has pulled 2012 away colliding with casualty. slight

July 2012 Pedestrian Pedestrian stepped into road and bus/coach collided with them. Slight

June Bus passenger Bus braked suddenly and passenger banged 2013 head. Slight

May 2014 Pedestrian Car parked illegally on double yellow lines. Bus/coach went to squeeze past at same time Slight as driver attempted to get into car via driver’s door and received minor injuries from contact between both vehicles.

August Child pedestrian Pedestrian emerged from near side pavement 2014 and ran out in front of bus/coach colliding with fatal front.

The 2016 injury accident provisional data has also been checked and there were no injury accidents involving a bus in Dunstable Road, Bury Park recorded.

5.0 CONSULTATION 5.1. Arriva have been consulted. They have stated that the area is ‘an extremely busy part of the town network and an important area as both a destination and boarding point. Total passenger numbers using (boarding & estimated alighting) at stops within Bury Park 2015/2016 was around 910k in total. Around 73% of journeys use services to/from Leagrave Rd / Dunstable Rd with 27% to/from Luton TC. Current frequency of buses during the core weekday business day is 18 per hour in each direction – which obviously represents a very small percentage of total traffic movements along this section of Dunstable Rd. Issues affecting bus service operation are caused by inconsiderate parking & delivery movements combined with a high traffic volume for a constrained urban area. Obstruction of footways often forces pedestrians closer to carriageway then necessary so the new measures to restrict pavement parking and loading will only improve things as long as they are enforce. There are no suitable or acceptable diversionary routes for buses - in addition to stops within Bury Park services would also be removed from busy stops along both Dunstable Rd & Leagrave Rd’.

5.2. The petition was reported to the South Area Board in November 2016. There was only one comment regarding the jurisdiction of the Council in regard to bus routes and bus stops. This is covered in the report.

6.0 CONCLUSIONS 6.1. Dunstable Road, Bury Park is a very important bus route.

6.2. The Council does not have any direct jurisdiction over the route of buses.

6.3. There is no suitable alternative for buses to use and therefore, introducing a Traffic Regulation Order to restrict its use by buses is not recommended.

6.4. The carriageway is the usual width for urban areas and is similar to other road that buses use in Luton.

6.5. Bus layby’s would reduce the available parking and indiscriminate parking is likely to result in buses having to stop in the running lane negating the usefulness of the layby and making it difficult for passengers to get on and off the bus.

6.6. The bus stop outside Luton Community and Fitness Centre is in the only position possible and still give reasonable access for bus passengers to this end of Dunstable Road, Bury Park.

6.7. It is therefore, recommended that no changes be made to the use of public service buses in Dunstable Road, Bury Park.

Appendix A Route of buses using Dunstable Road, Bury Park

Appendix B Bus services using bus stops