Summarizing the Issue
This policy report has focused on bringing about fairer bus lane regulations. Although established for a useful and worthy purpose, bus lanes have attracted a lot of criticism due to a few ambiguous rules which highlight negative externalities asociated with bus lanes. We have considered such arguments through an analytical framework that examined market failures and government failures relating to current bus lane regulations. Future policy recommendations for the Auckland City Council have emerged systematically from this analysis. These recommendations also reflect our conclusions on this matter, namely, that the Council should focus more on promoting bus lane regulations, be more attentive to safety issues, and decisively deal with issues surrounding the 50 metre rule in particular. However, there is scope for much more research to be done in this area. Future studies may wish to focus more directly on Comparative Institutional Analysis, in terms of what can be learnt from elsewhere and applied in our context; or implementation, regarding how policies in this are can be given the best chances for success. The quest for optimal policy effectiveness in area is a long long road, but it is attainable.
Read the FINAL POLICY REPORT on fairer bus lane regulations.