A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, often on certain days and times, and generally used to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway completely dedicated for use by buses, whilst bus gate describes a short bus lane often used as a short cut for public transport. Bus lanes are a key component of a high-quality bus rapid transit (BRT) network, improving bus travel speeds and reliability by reducing delay caused by other traffic.
Bus rapid transit lane of Transmetro in Guatemala City
Select Bus Service bus lane on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn, New York
Bus lane in Jingtong Expressway in Beijing. During rush hour the bus is able to completely avoid the traffic that cars are stuck in.
Bus lane in the middle of Roosevelt Road in Taipei, Taiwan
In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each direction, separated by lane markings. On multilane roadways and busier two-lane roads, lanes are designated with road surface markings. Major highways often have two multi-lane roadways separated by a median.
Thru lanes indicated by arrows on California CR G4 (Montague Expressway) in Silicon Valley
An ambulance lane in Warsaw, Poland
The Ontario Highway 401 in the Greater Toronto area, with 17 travel lanes in 6 separate carriageways visible in the midground
Turning lane on the Rodovia BR-101, Brazil