The new bus priority lane has been marked. (Picture provided by the police)

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Many citizens have discovered that there is a special new lane on Changjiang 1st Road in Yuzhong District, and that’s the “bus priority lane”. After nearly six months of investigation and data monitoring, Chongqing’s first “bus priority lane” will be officially put into use on September 12.

First “bus priority lane” is to be put into use on September 12.

According to data provided by the Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau, the buses in Chongqing main urban area occupying 20% of the road resources bear 83% of the traffic flow, while social cars occupying 80% of the road resources bear 17% of the traffic flow. The urban road resource allocation is seriously unbalanced. The urban bus priority is one of the technical measures effectively solving the unbalance problem of urban road resources allocation.

For that purpose, the Municipal Public Security Bureau united with third-party institutions to create Chongqing’s first bus priority lane on Changjiang 1st Road in Yuzhong District. The project needed to account for vehicle models proportion, citizens’ travel demand, bus lane design and light control facilities.

The first bus priority lane starts from Lianglukou and ends at Dahuanglu Interchange, with overall one-way length of 3.5km. There are special traffic signs and vibration markings on the road. A thin red anti-skating layer has also been applied to separate the bus lane from the other lanes.

A spokesperson for the Municipal Public Security Bureau said that the bus priority lane would be officially put into use on September 12. During 7:00-9:00 and 17:00-19:00 on workdays, buses, special vehicles in service and school buses can use the bus priority lane, while other cars are not allowed to drive on the lane. However, during nonpeak hours or specific hours marked, other vehicles can also drive on the lane.

Drivers driving on the bus priority bus and violating the rules will be fined 200 yuan in accordance with Article 37 of Road Traffic Safety Law of the People’ Republic of China.

According to the traffic and patrol police corps, it will be publicity announced that an education period will run from September 12 - 18, and unauthorized drivers caught in the lane and violating the rules will be fined beginning September 19. We hope all car drivers adapt to the new traffic rules of this section in advance. (Translated by Huang Juan, Fathom Language Limited)