Bus lane sign
This lane is for buses during the times shown, so other vehicles must keep out of it.
- Group
- Regulatory signs
- The group at a distance
- Mostly round, or a rectangular plate. Stop is the one octagon in the whole group and give way the one triangle. Usually white with a red ring or bar and a black legend. A few, like the shared path sign, are white on blue.
- Does this group carry the law
- Enforceable. Disobeying one is an offence in itself.
- In the sign deck
- 3 questions ask about this sign
What to do when you see it
In the order you do it, from the moment the sign comes into view.
- Keep out of the lane during the times shown on the sign.
- Use the lane briefly only where the rules allow it, to enter or leave the road or to turn, and get out of it again.
- Watch for buses pulling out from the kerb, because they are given priority when they signal in some situations.
- Outside the signed hours, treat it as a normal lane, but read the sign rather than assuming.
Where you see it
On arterial approaches into city centres, along busy bus corridors, and in the kerb side lane through shopping strips.
Across the states and territories
Which other vehicles may use a bus lane is set by each state and territory rather than nationally. Taxis, motorcycles and bicycles are permitted in some jurisdictions and not in others, and some cities use bus only lanes where nothing else may enter at all. Read the sign in front of you, since the permitted vehicles are usually listed on it.
Tell it apart from these
Both signs at the same size, next to each other, with the one line that separates them. These are the pairs people mix up under time pressure.
- Bus lanethis pageNo stopping
A bus lane restricts who may drive in the lane. A no stopping sign restricts stopping, and both can apply to the same stretch of kerb.
No stopping: You must not stop here at all, not even for a moment, unless there is an emergency.
- Bus lanethis pageOne way
Some bus lanes run against the general traffic direction on a one way street, which is why the two signs sometimes appear together.
One way: Traffic on this road travels in the direction of the arrow only.
How the knowledge tests use it
Questions usually turn on the times shown, and on the short distance you are allowed to travel in the lane in order to turn.
A real question from the sign deckWhat does this sign mean?
A bus lane is set aside for buses while the times on the sign apply. A transit lane is the one that opens up to cars carrying enough passengers, and it is marked with a different sign.
Australian Road Rules rule 154, bus lanes
Try it in a question
The sign tests draw the artwork above the question and ask what it means, which is closer to the way you meet a sign on the road than reading a page about it. They are original questions written for this site rather than an agency's published bank.
More regulatory signs
Mostly white with red or black, and usually round or rectangular.