Utter nonsense from my City planners - jus' for a laugh. I have replied as you might expect

[Stevew]

from the City
Transport Enforcement Manager, Brighton & Hove City Council

'You queried why motorcycles are permitted to use bus lanes on the outskirts of the city but not within the city centre. This is due to the higher risk of congestion in the central area. City-centre bus lanes are used by a significantly greater number of buses and taxis, and allowing large numbers of motorcycles to use them could impede traffic flow and cause delays to public transport. The primary purpose of these bus lanes is to allow public transport to move around the city without obstruction.'

 

[Ceesie76]

If you've ever been to Hanoi, Vietnam, you know that motorcycles can cause MAJOR congestion:

 

[Stevew]

If you've ever been to Hanoi, Vietnam, you know that motorcycles can cause MAJOR congestion:

Thank you. This report concerns Brighton, in Sussex, in the UK.

 

[Ceesie76]

Yes I am aware. But I have also been/lived in many a Western European city where the number of motorcycles/scooters is such that it does create congestion/hazard for vehicles using designated (bus/taxi) lanes such as in Madrid, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Geneva. So I am not surprised by your city planners' trepidation. And your question was simply:

do motorcycles cause congestion in cities?​

Without stipulating any particular city. So the Hanoi example is one valid answer to that question. When I visited Hanoi, I had to be given instructions about how to cross the street to get from my hotel to the venue I had to go to. Instructions were simply: "Start walking across the street slowly, don't change your pace and just keep going. The traffic will flow around you". And it did.