Priority given to city's public transport and motorcyles

PALMA
PALMA Council has chosen to give priority to public transport and motorcycles on the city's streets in order to help smooth the flow of traffic, Transport Councillor José Hila has confirmed.

Hila was presenting the newly marked out bus lanes in Calle Caro and Calle Teodor Llorente. The latter is an extension of Calle Caro leading to Paseo Mallorca. He also pointed out the areas at traffic lights which are marked out for motocyclists to stop in, ahead of the queue of other vehicles.

The prioritisation project has cost the City Council some 104'000 euros. The sum includes money set aside for pavement widening, putting rubbish containers underground, tarmacking surfaces, planting a line of trees in Calle Teodor Llorente and setting up eight plant decorations in Calle Caro.

Hilo explained that the bus-only lane had been set up in Calle Caro because after the Avenidas, it is the street of Palma which is most used by the municipal bus company EMT. There are exactly 22 buses an hour, meaning that a bus goes down the street once every 2.7 minutes.

Hila said that public transport users will now see how much faster buses and taxis move in the lane set aside for them than the rest of the traffic.
With regard to the “advance stop” spaces allocated to motorcyclists in front of traffic lights, Salvador Canudas, President of Majorca's Industry Association - which includes motorcyling manufacturers groups - said yesterday that not only will the City Council project mean better traffic flow, it will also mean that motorcyclists will be much safer on the roads.