Prismo Group — Quality Reflects

M4 Heathrow Airport

The M4 provides the main road access to Heathrow Airport, the world’s busiest airport carrying over 57 million passengers a year. Currently 13 million of these passengers use public transport for journeys to and from the airport. On an average day the M4 Spur carries a two-way traffic flow of around 75,000 vehicles, and prior to the introduction of the bus lane, queues regularly extended back along the whole length of the 1.4km Spur and onto the M4 motorway.

3500 vehicles use the bus lane each day, of which 2800 are taxis and 700 buses/coaches. A typical hourly flow during peak period comprises of 250 taxis and 60 PSV’s.

6 – 8 weeks

The third lane of the M4 Spur was surfaced in Red ‘Bustrack TG’ and opened in September 1997. The bus lane was later extended along the M4 motorway which opened in June 1999. The total length of the bus lane is now 10km.

Based on these figures, typical hourly flows and vehicle occupancies, an estimate of the time savings can be made. 550 person-hours are saved during the morning period and 600 person-hours are saved during the evening peak period. Therefore the bus lane results in 1150 person-hours being saved each weekday.