Luton to Dunstable guided busway at 10 years: Has it worked?

It is 10 years since a guided busway opened, allowing buses to bypass road traffic and shuttle passengers quickly along a dedicated route.

The Luton to Dunstable busway has not only ferried more than 20 million passengers since 2013, but has also proved popular with cyclists, walkers and joggers.

Concerns have been raised about its safety after three pedestrians died on the route. As it reaches its decade milestone, has the busway been a success?

Running over eight miles (12km), the busway runs along a stretch of old railway line, cost £91m and was funded by the government, Luton Council and Central Bedfordshire Council.

Three bus companies operate on it, with Arriva saying it makes more than 500 journeys per day.

Luton councillor David Franks, who leads the opposition Liberal Democrat party, says: "It's certainly delivered on one of its promises which was to increase bus usage."

But he was also critical of the project, saying: "It was supposed to go to the airport and doesn't go anywhere near it. We were told it was going to be self-financing and it certainly isn't that."

Kieran and Natalia study at Central Bedfordshire College in Dunstable, where hundreds of students rely on the busway.

Natalia, 18, lives in Luton and uses the busway to get to college and to the airport.

She thinks it has been value for money.

"I think it was a good idea, because a lot of young students rely on the buses. If I didn't use the bus I would have to walk or get a taxi," she says.

Kieran Pritchard, 18, from Dunstable says he uses the busway to "go to Luton, to Cineworld, or to the train station and on to London for a gig."

"I think the busway is great - it takes half the time it usually would and it runs every 10 minutes or so," he adds.

Sarah Mortimer, principal of Central Bedfordshire College, says the busway is "vital" to enable shorter journey times for students and that it had "opened up more opportunities".

Andrea Paraschiv, 37, uses the footpath that runs alongside the busway to "get out into nature and for my mental health."

She jogs or walks every day from Dunstable while pushing her pram.

"My baby is 19 months and she has seen the busway every day from when she was born," she says.

She says that safety is now becoming a concern as her daughter wants to walk in the path of "speeding bicycles" and scooters.

However Ms Paraschiv also says that a footpath alongside a route with regular buses is better than a secluded one.

"I think every city will need a busway for people to walk without any traffic, any pollution," she says.

Keith Austin is one of the 461 cyclists who use the busway every day.

"I come from Houghton Regis all the way down to Luton quite often," he says.

"Most people are very friendly and move out of the way when you ring your bell.

"The worst thing is these scooters that come bombing down the path."

Mr Austin also uses the buses to get from Houghton Regis to Dunstable, and says the busway is much quicker.

"Especially at the moment, when the traffic is choc-a-bloc, and packed with roadworks," he adds.

While many of the busway users feel it has been a success, serious concerns have also been raised about its safety following three fatalities, including one in March.

In 2020, senior coroner Emma Whitting reported on the death of Ibrahima Yahaia, 69, who was hit by a bus while "walking along the designated busway".

Ms Whitting wrote that "there is no physical prevention for pedestrians to enter the busway lanes" and suggested "there are clear and evident design flaws with this busway".

Luton Labour councillor and member for sustainable transport, Javed Hussain, said the busway is "currently deemed safe" but "any fatality is one too many".

"Every learning we get from the coroner's report, we always take very seriously and follow it up," he says.

He says the council had "added additional railings behind the football stadium".

Mr Javed says that despite "a lot of scepticism" 10 years ago, the busway "provides sustainable transport" and "is the best thing we ever did."

"It's a pity it doesn't go all the way to Leighton Buzzard, that is a missing link. That would open up a path from the airport to the Euston an Milton Keynes railway line," he adds.

"I think that's an infrastructure project the government should look at."

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