Is the tourist bus driver allowed to drive in the "A" lane?

Explanation

Prohibited.

The letter "A" on the carriageway and the blue sign beside the street have reserved this lane for public-transport vehicles; that is, vehicles that carry passengers on a fixed route to a published schedule. A tour bus, although no different in size and appearance from a city bus, does not travel on a fixed route and does not stop at designated stops; therefore it does not count as a public-transport vehicle and has no right to use this lane.

The law's criterion is not the type of bodywork or the number of seats; the criterion is "travel on a fixed route with designated stops". That single sentence answers several exam questions: a taxi, a company van, a school bus and a tour bus are none of them the same as a route bus.

The safety and functional reason is clear too: the value of a dedicated lane lies in its predictability. If every large vehicle were allowed to enter, the dedicated lane would turn into an ordinary congested lane and the very delay it was meant to remove would come back.

In the picture the dedicated lane is on the right of the carriageway and right beside the verge; exactly where pedestrians and passengers expect to see a route bus, not through traffic.

• "Allowed" is built on the outward resemblance of a tour bus to a city bus; but the law's criterion is travel on a fixed route, not the size and shape of the vehicle.

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