A bus trap (car trap in the UK) is a metal grate placed over a ditch or pit in the road with tines (sides) spaced far enough apart that small (shorter axle) vehicles fall between the tines but close enough that larger-diameter-wheeled vehicles, such as buses, may pass. Cycles may cross broader sided examples.
Different versions exist for restricting access. The tines cross the path of the road, not parallel with the road direction. Small-wheeled vehicles bottom out in between the tines, preventing the vehicle from continuing over the obstacle.
Disadvantages
Many domestic vehicles exist in the 21st century wide enough to navigate bus traps effectively, including wide-axle SUVs and 4x4s. Police cars and in some cases motorbikes are hindered by bus traps.
When a vehicle hits a bus trap, the bus trap may also become damaged, requiring possibly extensive repairs. The driver may suffer 'potentially physical and psychological trauma' as a result of hitting a bus trap.
Bus traps may also be counterproductive, as when a vehicle gets stuck, the bus services becomes disrupted until the vehicle can be towed out.
Most cities favour other means of keeping cars out of bus-only areas, such as:
*fines backed up with camera enforcement
*a controlled barrier, such as a rising clearly marked
bollard
A bollard is a sturdy, short, vertical post. The term originally referred to a post on a ship or quay used principally for mooring boats. In modern usage, it also refers to posts installed to control road traffic and posts designed to pre ...
kept in a default risen state — may use
radio-frequency identification
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically Automatic identification system, identify and Tracking system, track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder called a tag, ...
Examples
The city of
Calgary
Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...
, Canada, began installation of bus traps in 1970s and primarily used them to restrict access to transit facilities and neighborhoods attempting to discourage pass-through traffic. The last seven bus traps are scheduled to be removed in 2023 and 2024.
The
Cambridgeshire Guided Busway
The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway is a guided busway and Bus rapid transit that connects Cambridge, Huntingdon and St Ives, Cambridgeshire, St Ives in Cambridgeshire, England. It has the longest guided busway in the world, surpassing the O-Bahn B ...
has numerous car traps, where they interact with road traffic. As of November 2023, at least 60 incidents of cars being trapped in them have occurred on one trap in
St Ives.
[St Ives: New car hole trap signs installed to prevent incidents](_blank)
''BBC News''. 7 November 2023 As a result, the
council
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
installed additional signs at that location with the hope to reduce the number of drivers ignoring and being trapped in them.
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
File:Skejby Busvej 05.JPG, In northern Aarhus
Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...
, Denmark
File:Ipswich-UK-guided-busway3.jpg, Barrier on the entrance to a busway in Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...
, England
File:Bussluis2.jpg, In Delft
Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...
, The Netherlands
File:Omgeving nieuwe station Breda DSCF6621.JPG, In Breda
Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...
, The Netherlands
See also
*
Sump buster
A sump buster is a device installed within a bus route to limit that thoroughfare to buses. It discourages traffic from entering a lane by promising to destroy the oil pan of any vehicle with insufficient ground clearance to get over it, making th ...
*
Cattle grid
A cattle grid – also known as a stock grid in Australia; cattle guard, or cattle grate in American English; vehicle pass, or stock gap in the Southeastern United States; Texas gate in western Canada and the northwestern United States; and a c ...
References
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Road infrastructure