BUS GATE Road Marking

Since 2016 there have been only two road markings which can lawfully be placed on the carriageway to identify that an area of road is restricted to buses (and possibly other vehicles):

• BUS LANE (diagram 1048: TSRGD 2016 Schedule 9 Part 6 item 14)

• BUS GATE (diagram 1048.5 TSRGD 2016 Schedule 9 Part 6 item 15)

The BUS GATE road marking replaced the road markings:

• BUS ONLY (diagram 1048.3 TSRGD 2002 Schedule 6)

• BUS // TAXI // AND // <cycle symbol> // ONLY (diagram 1048.4  TSRGD 2002 Schedule 6) with TAXI and <cycle symbol> as appropriate

These road markings are used for restrictions which are not conventional bus lanes (either with-flow or contraflow), which have a thick white line at their outer edge. With-flow bus lanes have rectangular white-on-blue signs before and at their start which show the vehicles permitted in the lane. Contraflow bus lanes used also to have such signs, but it is more common now for blue roundels showing permitted vehicles to be used at their start. Other sections of road which are restricted to buses and other vehicles either use blue roundels or No Entry signs with an Except plate listing permitted vehicles.

Why the Change?

Existing road markings remained valid but it ceased to be lawful to place fresh road markings of the old forms. There appear to have been two reasons for the change:

1. solo motorcycles were being added as vehicles which could be included, so there could be four vehicles to be listed on the road marking;

2. as the road marking was regulatory, the law required it to be placed within the restricted section of road, not before. Local authorities already found themselves unable to fit the road marking into a short restriction, especially if it was a two-way single-lane section, as is quite common.

To quote Chapter 3 of the Traffic Signs Manual:

9.7.7. Unlike the “BUS ONLY” marking, the “BUS GATE” marking can be used where the restricted access applies for only part of the day or where the road may be used by vehicles other than buses, cycles and taxis (e.g. solo motor cycles or “except for access”). It also takes up less space than the previous “BUS AND (cycle symbol) ONLY” marking, which might have been difficult to place in a very short bus gate.

What is not clear is why DfT decided to substitute BUS GATE for the former road markings, rather than adding it. There are places where local authorities wish to emphasise that a section of road is restricted to buses only. With BUS LANE and BUS GATE, the road marking does not indicate what vehicles apart from buses are permitted. That information can only be found from the accompanying sign. The BUS ONLY road marking is explicit that only buses are permitted. 

Tyburn Way, Marble Arch

Tyburn Way at Marble Arch is a one-way bus-only short-cut across the elongated roundabout at Marble Arch. It was created when the roundabout was enlarged in 1960-61 but was closed to all traffic in 1964 because the Metropolitan Police considered that the roundabout would work better without it. Accidents occurred as vehicles emerging from Tyburn Way merged with traffic on the roundabout. It was opened for use by buses on the Red Arrow 500 service in 1966 and by all London Transport buses in 1973. 

Tyburn Way uses No Entry signs with "Except buses" plates and the BUS ONLY road marking rather than blue roundels and a BUS LANE or BUS GATE road marking:

Biggleswade Interchange

In 2023-24 Network Rail and Central Bedfordshire Council built a bus and rail interchange next to Biggleswade Railway Station. This included bus stops and a bus turning circle. Puzzlement ensued when it was reported that 

A bus gate is planned for the town’s railway station interchange to prevent private vehicles parking in an area close to the building.

Evidently the highway engineers had (correctly) decided that the bus turning circle should have "BUS GATE" road markings across its entry. As the report explained:

When is a gate not a gate? When it apparently is labelled a bus gate, as Biggleswade town councillors learned after attempting to solve the mystery... 

Mayor Mark Foster told a town council meeting: “It’s been established it’s a theoretical bus gate and not a proper gate, so this is a white lining exercise.”

Councillor Madeline Russell asked: “Have we actually established it’s white lining and how will it be enforced? I haven’t seen anything that says exactly what it’s going to be. We need to know because either it’s very intrusive if enforced by cameras or cumbersome if it’s an actual gate. If it’s signage and white lines, there’s the enforcement issue. Is it going to be rising bollards? We also don’t know why this is relevant now. The bus interchange isn’t even in use yet.“

The transport interchange was completed, but without BUS GATE road markings. Instead BUSES ONLY was used, along with No Entry signs with "Except buses" plates. 

Ironically, this is identical to the signage used on the first bus gate, on Bessborough Gardens, near Vauxhall Bridge, London in 1964 (except that signs in 1964 were different). It suggests that the highway engineers in 1964 had a better idea of what motorists would understand and respect than those responsible for the BUS GATE road marking and blue roundels.

Written 3rd April 2026; last updated 3rd April 2026.    See copyright notice