Arriva Leicester welcomes report

Arriva has welcomed the findings of a review into the effectiveness of bus lanes across Leicester. The report showed the infrastructure had been successful in improving journey times and reliability for bus users. The investigation, conducted by the Bus Lanes Task Group, found that the introduction of the bus lanes was having major benefits for passengers and other road users in the city, resulting in increased bus patronage and improved safety conditions for cyclists.

Arriva also noted that the support of their local authority partners had enabled greater investment into its Leicester network, resulting in an overall improvement to customer experience. These initiatives have included the upgrade of the X3 route to Sapphire standard in 2015, new vehicles on routes 47/48, a higher frequency on routes 58/58A, and a major marketing campaign to highlight the benefits of using the bus in and around Leicester. Further investment plans are also due to be announced later this year.

Area MD for Arriva Midlands East, Simon Mathieson, said, ‘Over recent years, congestion has been increasing at a rapid rate across the city, which is having a detrimental effect on not only on road users but also on the environment. At Arriva, we constantly strive to provide cleaner, greener, more efficient services which give people greater choice when making decisions about transport. We firmly believe that the introduction of the bus lanes in Leicester has helped make those decisions even easier, positioning public transport as a more attractive journey choice by cutting congestion by encouraging more people out of their cars. The findings of this review not only back our sentiments on the issue, but give us a platform from which we can work with our partners at the Council to continue building on this initial success.’