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{{Infobox Bus transit
⚫
The '''PrimeLines''' initiative in [[Coventry]], England, is a £42 million budgeted scheme which aims to improve all aspects of bus journeys on a number of selected showcase routes radiating out from the city centre of Coventry. New bus stops will be wheelchair friendly, with raised kerbs for easier boarding, and new shelters, that are airier and well lit will be built.
|name = PrimeLines
<ref>[http://www.coventry.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/transport-and-streets/public-transport/buses/primelines/ Coventry City Council - PrimeLines Information] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226070251/http://www.coventry.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/transport-and-streets/public-transport/buses/primelines/ |date=26 December 2010 }}</ref>
|logo =
|logo_size =
|image = Bendybus 21 18s07.JPG
|image size =
|image_caption = PrimeLines liveried [[Mercedes-Benz O405|Mercedes-Benz O405 GN]] articulated single-decker in 2007
|parent =
|founded =
|headquarters =
|locale =
|service_area = [[Coventry]]
|service_type = Bus service
|destinations =
|depots =
|fleet =
|operator =
|ceo =
|website =
}}
⚫
The '''PrimeLines''' initiative in [[Coventry]], England, was a £42&nbsp;million budgeted scheme which aimed at improving bus journey times, reliability, and accessibility along routes radiating out from the city centre of Coventry.


==History==
==University (12) Corridor==
The buses used in the project were purchased by Centro in 2003,<ref name="CBW 2018">{{cite news |title=Coventry's farewell to the BendiBus |url=https://cbwmagazine.com/coventrys-farewell-to-the-bendibus/ |access-date=29 November 2022 |work=Coach & Bus Week |date=27 March 2018}}</ref> with the funding for the project being secured in 2004.<ref name="Primelines Information">{{cite web |title=PrimeLines Information |url=http://www.coventry.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/transport-and-streets/public-transport/buses/primelines/ |publisher=Coventry City Council |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226070251/http://www.coventry.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/transport-and-streets/public-transport/buses/primelines/ |access-date=29 November 2022|archive-date=26 December 2010 }}</ref> Funding of the project was split between the [[Department for Transport]] (£28.5&nbsp;million), West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (AKA Centro) block-funding (£5.75&nbsp;million), and [[National Express]] (£7.25&nbsp;million).<ref name="Transport Times July 2009">{{cite news |title=Primelines ushers in new era for Coventry |url=https://www.transporttimes.co.uk/Admin/uploads/TT65.pdf |access-date=29 November 2022 |work=Transport Times |issue=65 |date=July 2009 |page=11}}</ref>


The decision to go ahead with the construction of bus lanes for the project was taken in November 2007, though part of the original plan (the construction of a bus lane that would have extended into [[Hearsall Common]]) was scrapped due to public protest.<ref name="Scott 2009">{{cite news |last1=Scott |first1=Fiona |title=Tories drop controversial bus lane plan; VOTE: Surprise move as council decides not to build route over common |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=STND&u=wikipedia&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA170904908&inPS=true&linkSource=interlink&sid=bookmark-STND |access-date=29 November 2022 |work=Coventry Evening Telegraph |date=8 November 2009}}</ref> The decision had originally been scheduled to be taken in October 2009 but was delayed due to the need to give more time for public feedback given the volume of objections.<ref name="Crutchlow 2007">{{cite news |last1=Crutchlow |first1=Dayle |title=Bus lane plan faces hold-up; TRANSPORT: Nearly 2,000 residents object to route |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=STND&u=wikipedia&id=GALE%7CA170403416&v=2.1&it=r&sid=ebsco |access-date=29 November 2022 |work=Coventry Evening Telegraph |date=30 October 2007}}</ref>
On the "University Corridor" route (number 12 bus), bus lanes and gates have been instituted in various places, and it is estimated that at peak hours the total time for the full journey between the city and [[Warwick University]] could be reduced by approximately 1 minute 50 seconds. However, the plans for this were finalized before the [[Council]] obtained a report by [[Jacobs Engineering Group|Jacobs]] UK Ltd. The report concluded that there were only two "pinch points" on the route,<ref>Jacobs UK Ltd - Primelines bus corridor 7 feasibility report, November 2006 - February 2007</ref> and neither of these has been given any [[bus priority]] measures, whereas measures have been put in place where they are not deemed necessary. The bus gates are also interesting in that they often turn red for other traffic when no bus or taxi is approaching.


Launched fully in 2009, the project involved the provision of digital signage, [[Bus lane|segregated bus-lanes]], and a fleet of low-floor [[Articulated bus|bendy busses]] focused on six routes ("Prime Lines") between Coventry and various locations on its outskirts, including [[Warwick University]]. The scheme involved setting up 5.3km of bus lane as well as 4.9km of restricted lanes,<ref name="Wazna 2012" /> and installing vehicle location tracking technology on all of Coventry's 156 busses. Tracking of the buses was achieved through the use of lamppost-mounted sensors connected via fibre-optics. The scheme also involved installation of systems that gave buses priority at traffic lights along the route.<ref name="Waddington 2009">{{cite news |last1=Waddington |first1=Jenny |title=Hi-tech arrives on city's buses; TRANSPORT: Huge investment will improve access and information |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=STND&u=wikipedia&id=GALE%7CA203108253&v=2.1&it=r&sid=ebsco |access-date=29 November 2022 |work=Coventry Evening Telegraph |date=6 July 2009}}</ref><ref name="Transport Times July 2009" />
The [[PrimeLines]] route along the [[Ansty Road]], involving as it did the confiscation of private frontages to houses on Ansty Road, amid considerable protest from homeowners, has also attracted controversy.


In 2010 the scheme was extended along the route between [[Holbrooks]] and Coventry city centre.<ref name="Gibbons 2010">{{cite news |last1=Gibbons |first1=Duncan |title=Coventry Number 13 bus route gets Primelines makeover |url=https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/coventry-number-13-bus-route-3064225 |access-date=29 November 2022 |work=Coventry Telegraph |date=1 April 2010}}</ref> Centro claimed this reduced travel time between the town centre and Holbrooks by about 5 minutes. The cost of this was £2.3&nbsp;million.<ref name="BBC 2011">{{cite news |title=Coventry bus route upgrade in £2.3m scheme |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-12862538 |access-date=29 November 2022 |work=BBC News |date=27 March 2011}}</ref>
==Previous PrimeLines projects==


According to a survey published in 2012, 47% of Coventry households had changed their travel habits, 39% reduced the average distance travelled through Coventry. Of this 47%, 24% achieved this reduction by switching to buses.<ref name="Wazna 2012">{{cite journal |last1=WAZNA |first1=AGNIEZKA |editor1-last=Bąk |editor1-first=Monika |title=INTEGRACJA TRANSPORTU PASAZERSKIEGO W UNII EUROPEJSKIEJ |journal=Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego Ekonomika Transportu I Logistyka |date=2012 |issue=45 |pages=124–125 |url=https://ekonom.ug.edu.pl/web/download.php?OpenFile=1092 |access-date=29 November 2022 |publisher=Uniwersytet Gdañsk |issn=0208-4821}}</ref>
The PrimeLines scheme is based on bus showcase schemes previously tried in [[Bristol]] and [[Birmingham]], none of which delivered significant sustained increase in bus usage or any fall in congestion or total car use.


In 2016 the head of Coventry city council proposed the phasing out of the bus-lanes established under the project in order to ease congestion within the city. An experimental closure of the lanes, returning them to ordinary use, began the same year.<ref name="Forster 2016">{{cite news |last1=Forster |first1=Andrew |title=Removing bus lanes will ease congestion, says Coventry |url=https://www.transportxtra.com/publications/transit/news/52208/removing-bus-lanes-will-ease-congestion-says-coventry/ |access-date=29 November 2022 |work=TransportXtra |date=16 December 2016}}</ref> The experimental scheme involved the closure of seven of Coventry's 22 lanes and ran for six months.<ref name="Cov Observer 2017">{{cite news |title=More Coventry bus lanes suspended for use by motorists - amid bus gate furore |url=https://coventryobserver.co.uk/news/more-coventry-bus-lanes-suspended-for-use-by-motorists-amid-bus-gate-furore/ |access-date=29 November 2022 |work=Coventry Observer |date=21 September 2017}}</ref> In 2017 the scheme was extended and further five further lane-closures were announced.<ref name="Hartley 2017">{{cite news |last1=Hartley |first1=Laura |title=Five more Coventry bus lanes to be suspended as city grapples with congestion nightmare |url=https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/five-more-coventry-bus-lanes-13652641 |access-date=29 November 2022 |work=Coventry Telegraph |date=21 September 2017}}</ref> In 2018 the scheme was extended again and nine further lanes were suspended or scrapped.<ref name="Hartley 2018">{{cite news |last1=Hartley |first1=Laura |title=Nine Coventry bus lanes to be scrapped following trial suspension |url=https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/nine-coventry-bus-lanes-scrapped-14804057 |access-date=29 November 2022 |work=Coventry Telegraph |date=21 June 2018}}</ref> The Bendy buses obtained for the project were also finally phased out in that year.<ref name="CBW 2018" />
==Controversy==
One of the first bus priority measures for the Coventry scheme, a bus gate at the junction of The Butts and Albany road, had to be dismantled after it caused serious congestion problems for traffic leaving the city centre or coming off the inner ring road.<ref>[http://www.labourincoventry.org/northeast/ Labour Councillors - "Butts Bus Gate is money down the drain"]{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
<ref>[http://www.coventry.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/transport-and-streets/public-transport/buses/primelines/corridor-8---tile-hill-lane--and-spon-end-/ Coventry City Council - PrimeLines Works on the Tile Hill Corridor] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109152621/http://www.coventry.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/transport-and-streets/public-transport/buses/primelines/corridor-8---tile-hill-lane--and-spon-end-/ |date=9 January 2009 }}</ref>


==Reception==
[[Coventry City Council]] approval of PrimeLines was secured in part with a claim that congestion would be reduced and that there would be a 25% increase in bus use on all PrimeLines routes,<ref name="ReferenceA">Coventry City Council report to cabinet - Petition of objection to highway works on [[Hearsall Common]], 6 November 2007</ref> but the claim is not supported by evidence, and tends to be contradicted by experience of bus showcase schemes elsewhere in the country: the best single route ever has managed a 25% increase in patronage, and no better than a 6% shift has been recorded between modes of transport,.<ref>Birmingham City Council - "Building Bus Use", 9 January 2007</ref> Centro’s own figures indicate that bus showcase schemes offer a 15% increase in usage on routes where every conceivable improvement is implemented, with no indication of how much of this comes from a shift from private cars to buses.<ref>Centro - "Transforming Bus Travel", February 2008</ref>
In November 2009 the scheme won the national-level UK Bus Award for Infrastructure and the RTIG Inform Award for Innovation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Double award for Coventry Primelines bus project |url=https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/double-award-coventry-primelines-bus-3073505 |access-date=29 November 2022 |work=Coventry Telegraph |date=18 November 2009}}</ref>

The PrimeLines consortium held a public consultation on elements of the [[Warwickshire bus routes U1, U2, U12 and U17|University Corridor]] PrimeLines scheme, in a bus on a car park between the back of the [[Old Clarence]] public house and what was then the building site for a new block of flats, during August 2007. According to a report to the [[Council’s Cabinet]], around 100 people attended this and 29 people were in support of the bus lane scheme. A petition against the scheme totalling 1,928 signatures was also received by the Council.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

==Future of the scheme==

Eventually many of the shelters will have electronic passenger information installed, so waiting passengers will know when the next bus is due. To improve reliability, the routes will have bus priority measures implemented at traffic signals and junctions, and where possible there will be lengths of bus lanes to get the bus past general traffic queues.


==See also==
==See also==

Latest revision as of 04:31, 22 December 2022

PrimeLines
PrimeLines liveried Mercedes-Benz O405 GN articulated single-decker in 2007
Service areaCoventry
Service typeBus service

The PrimeLines initiative in Coventry, England, was a £42 million budgeted scheme which aimed at improving bus journey times, reliability, and accessibility along routes radiating out from the city centre of Coventry.

History[edit]

The buses used in the project were purchased by Centro in 2003,[1] with the funding for the project being secured in 2004.[2] Funding of the project was split between the Department for Transport (£28.5 million), West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (AKA Centro) block-funding (£5.75 million), and National Express (£7.25 million).[3]

The decision to go ahead with the construction of bus lanes for the project was taken in November 2007, though part of the original plan (the construction of a bus lane that would have extended into Hearsall Common) was scrapped due to public protest.[4] The decision had originally been scheduled to be taken in October 2009 but was delayed due to the need to give more time for public feedback given the volume of objections.[5]

Launched fully in 2009, the project involved the provision of digital signage, segregated bus-lanes, and a fleet of low-floor bendy busses focused on six routes ("Prime Lines") between Coventry and various locations on its outskirts, including Warwick University. The scheme involved setting up 5.3km of bus lane as well as 4.9km of restricted lanes,[6] and installing vehicle location tracking technology on all of Coventry's 156 busses. Tracking of the buses was achieved through the use of lamppost-mounted sensors connected via fibre-optics. The scheme also involved installation of systems that gave buses priority at traffic lights along the route.[7][3]

In 2010 the scheme was extended along the route between Holbrooks and Coventry city centre.[8] Centro claimed this reduced travel time between the town centre and Holbrooks by about 5 minutes. The cost of this was £2.3 million.[9]

According to a survey published in 2012, 47% of Coventry households had changed their travel habits, 39% reduced the average distance travelled through Coventry. Of this 47%, 24% achieved this reduction by switching to buses.[6]

In 2016 the head of Coventry city council proposed the phasing out of the bus-lanes established under the project in order to ease congestion within the city. An experimental closure of the lanes, returning them to ordinary use, began the same year.[10] The experimental scheme involved the closure of seven of Coventry's 22 lanes and ran for six months.[11] In 2017 the scheme was extended and further five further lane-closures were announced.[12] In 2018 the scheme was extended again and nine further lanes were suspended or scrapped.[13] The Bendy buses obtained for the project were also finally phased out in that year.[1]

Reception[edit]

In November 2009 the scheme won the national-level UK Bus Award for Infrastructure and the RTIG Inform Award for Innovation.[14]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Coventry's farewell to the BendiBus". Coach & Bus Week. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  2. ^ "PrimeLines Information". Coventry City Council. Archived from the original on 26 December 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Primelines ushers in new era for Coventry" (PDF). Transport Times. No. 65. July 2009. p. 11. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  4. ^ Scott, Fiona (8 November 2009). "Tories drop controversial bus lane plan; VOTE: Surprise move as council decides not to build route over common". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  5. ^ Crutchlow, Dayle (30 October 2007). "Bus lane plan faces hold-up; TRANSPORT: Nearly 2,000 residents object to route". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  6. ^ a b WAZNA, AGNIEZKA (2012). Bąk, Monika (ed.). "INTEGRACJA TRANSPORTU PASAZERSKIEGO W UNII EUROPEJSKIEJ". Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego Ekonomika Transportu I Logistyka (45). Uniwersytet Gdañsk: 124–125. ISSN 0208-4821. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  7. ^ Waddington, Jenny (6 July 2009). "Hi-tech arrives on city's buses; TRANSPORT: Huge investment will improve access and information". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  8. ^ Gibbons, Duncan (1 April 2010). "Coventry Number 13 bus route gets Primelines makeover". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  9. ^ "Coventry bus route upgrade in £2.3m scheme". BBC News. 27 March 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  10. ^ Forster, Andrew (16 December 2016). "Removing bus lanes will ease congestion, says Coventry". TransportXtra. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  11. ^ "More Coventry bus lanes suspended for use by motorists - amid bus gate furore". Coventry Observer. 21 September 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  12. ^ Hartley, Laura (21 September 2017). "Five more Coventry bus lanes to be suspended as city grapples with congestion nightmare". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  13. ^ Hartley, Laura (21 June 2018). "Nine Coventry bus lanes to be scrapped following trial suspension". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  14. ^ "Double award for Coventry Primelines bus project". Coventry Telegraph. 18 November 2009. Retrieved 29 November 2022.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=PrimeLines_(Coventry)&oldid=1128821288"