Spain’s DGT traffic authority is trialling so-called ‘red lanes’ that change function depending on the time of day as a means of lowering congestion on the country’s roads. Here’s why many drivers won’t be able to use these ‘carriles rojos’ (red lanes).
Spain’s traffic authority, La Dirección General de Tráfico, recently trialled a new type of so-called ‘red lane’ in Madrid, with an eye on rolling them out busy roads across the country.
The aim behind the pilot was to reduce traffic and single occupancy travellers while enforcing it with fines.
In August and the first week of September, the DGT began testing the new system on the A-2 motorway to temporarily transform the left hand lane into a lane reserved for buses and high-occupancy vehicles — Bus-VAO lanes.
The measure, referred to as the “red lane,” aims to reduce congestion on one of the main accesses to Madrid without building a separate lane or investing heavily in renovations, something that would further disrupt traffic near the capital.
According to data from the Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT), 85 percent of vehicles circulating daily on the main access roads to Madrid do so with a single occupant, which generates significant traffic jams and complicates parking in the Spanish capital.
What are the red lanes?
The red or Bus-VAO lanes are essentially left-hand lanes that change function depending on the time of day. VAO stands for Vehículo de Alta Ocupación (High Occupancy Vehicle).
According to a DGT statement: “It is not a physically separated lane; rather, the left-hand lane in each direction on the motorway between Madrid and Alcalá de Henares has been technologically enabled so that, during peak hours, it operates as a Bus-VAO lane and, at other times, functions as a general traffic lane.”
While the Bus-VAO is activated, only buses, motorcycles, authorised vehicles, and cars with two or more occupants ( including the driver) will be allowed to use it.
Outside of the indicated periods, it will return to its usual operation and will be open to all vehicles.
A poster explaining the rules in Spanish for the new Bus-VAO lanes. Image: Madrid City Hall
How was the pilot enforced?
With fines. The system was monitored by licence plate reading cameras and devices capable of checking how many occupants are in the vehicle.
Using a red lane without meeting the requirements or entering and exiting through unauthorised points is punishable by a fine of €200.
As with many multas (fines) in Spain, the amount is halved if you pay quickly within 15 days, known as prepago.
Where are they?
For now, Spain’s new red lanes are limited to Madrid.
Ten intercity routes along the A-2 corridor took part in this pilot phase: routes 223, 224, 224A, 226, 227, 229 and 261, travelling from Alcalá de Henares, Torrejón de Ardoz and surrounding towns, as well as routes 281, 282 and 283, which connect Coslada, San Fernando de Henares and Mejorada del Campo with Madrid.
During this initial phase of operation – both during the trial period and once it is in regular service – the operational section will extend only as far as Torrejón de Ardoz, although the infrastructure is in place to extend it to Alcalá de Henares in a second phase, Spanish media reports.
Will they be rolled out across Spain?
It’s possible. Although the pilot scheme was limited to that stretch of A-2 motorway in Madrid, the idea behind the trial is that the results — namely how effective it is in reducing traffic and single occupancy cars — will decide the future of the red lanes.
Now the first phase of the pilot has been wrapped up, the DGT and Ministry of Transport will go about analysing the results of the trial period.
