Alcorcón’s City Council launches a pilot system of priority traffic lights for its buses

The City Council of Spanish Alcorcón, located in the Metropolitan area of Madrid, has announced the launch of a pilot project giving priority to traffic lights for buses, with the aim of speeding up public transport - increasing the frequency of services and reducing travel times. Initially, the scheme will be tested on the cities urban Line 2 and interurban lines 511, 513, 514, 520, as well as the night line N502.

The system has been implemented in collaboration with bus company Arriva Madrid and works by using wireless beacons which are installed in passenger vehicles and communicate with a receiver in the traffic light regulator. "When the bus approaches in the right lane, the traffic light allows its passage, always giving priority to pedestrians" a local source stated. To prevent cars from passing and crossing during the opening of the traffic light, an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) number plate control camera has also been installed to monitor the lane.

The section that will be controlled, encompasses Betanzos Street to the roundabout of Avenida de Lisboa with Avenida de los Castillos and will operate from Monday to Friday. On non-operational days, traffic will flow as normal through the two lanes in the roadways. 

Penalties for non-compliance with the trial traffic lights will be applied during the trial period from Monday 6 May to Sunday 30 June and, once the testing period ends, if the results of the trial are positive, the service will be activated from 1 July.