{{Short description|Feature for restricting access on roads}} {{refimprove|date=August 2022}} A '''bus trap''' ('''car trap''' in the UK) is a metal grate placed over a ditch or pit in the road with tines (sides) spaced far enough apart that small, shorter-axled vehicles fall between the sides, but longer-axled vehicles, such as buses, may pass. Cycles may cross broader-sided examples.
Different versions exist for restricting access. The tines cross the path of the road, not parallel with the road direction. Small-wheeled vehicles bottom out in between the tines, preventing the vehicle from continuing over the obstacle.
==Disadvantages== Many domestic vehicles exist in the 21st century wide enough to navigate bus traps effectively, including wide-axle SUVs and 4x4s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bussluis waar geen bus meer overheen rijdt is nu springschans |url=https://www.nhnieuws.nl/nieuws/343713/bussluis-waar-geen-bus-meer-overheen-rijdt-is-nu-springschans |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=www.nhnieuws.nl |language=nl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=om 09:39 |first=Door • Amstelveenz • vrijdag 26 november 2021 |title=Nieuwe bussluis Bovenkerk blijkt makkelijk te nemen horde; aanpassingen noodzakelijk |url=https://www.amstelveenz.nl/nieuws/nieuwe-bussluis-bovenkerk-blijkt-makkelijk-te-nemen-horde-aanpassingen-noodzakelijk.html |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=Amstelveenz |language=nl}}</ref> Police cars and in some cases motorbikes are hindered by bus traps.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Gilligan |first=Melissa |date=2024-02-28 |title=Bye-bye bus traps: Calgary ditches notorious traffic devices |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/article/bye-bye-bus-traps-calgary-ditches-notorious-traffic-devices/ |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=CTVNews |language=en}}</ref> When a vehicle hits a bus trap, the bus trap may also become damaged, requiring possibly extensive repairs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Politie zoekt sloper nieuwe bussluis Breda |trans-title=Police looking for wrecker of new bus trap in Breda |url=https://www.bndestem.nl/breda/politie-zoekt-sloper-nieuwe-bussluis-breda~acef679a/}}</ref> The driver may suffer 'potentially physical and psychological trauma' as a result of hitting a bus trap.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2022-08-04 |title=End coming soon for Calgary's notorious bus traps |url=https://ca.news.yahoo.com/end-coming-soon-calgarys-notorious-080000064.html |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-CA}}</ref>
Bus traps may also be counterproductive, as when a vehicle gets stuck, the bus services becomes disrupted until the vehicle can be towed out.<ref name=":0" />
Most cities favour other means of keeping cars out of bus-only areas, such as:<ref name=":1" /> *fines backed up with camera enforcement *a controlled barrier, such as a rising clearly marked bollard kept in a default risen state — may use radio-frequency identification
==Examples==
The city of Calgary, Canada, began installation of bus traps in 1970s and primarily used them to restrict access to transit facilities and neighborhoods attempting to discourage pass-through traffic. The last seven bus traps are scheduled to be removed in 2023 and 2024.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dippel |first=Scott |date=August 4, 2022 |title=End coming soon for Calgary's notorious bus traps |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/bus-traps-transportation-1.6540546 |publisher=CBC News |accessdate=August 10, 2022}}</ref>
The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway has numerous car traps, where they interact with road traffic. As of November 2023, at least 60 incidents of cars being trapped in them have occurred on one trap in St Ives.<ref name="Cambridge">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-67337857 St Ives: New car hole trap signs installed to prevent incidents] ''BBC News''. 7 November 2023</ref> As a result, the council installed additional signs at that location with the hope to reduce the number of drivers ignoring and being trapped in them. <ref name="Cambridge" /><gallery> File:Bussluse 05-04-06 01.jpg|A bus trap in Denmark File:Skejby Busvej 05.JPG|In northern Aarhus, Denmark File:Ipswich-UK-guided-busway3.jpg|Barrier on the entrance to a busway in Ipswich, England File:Bussluis2.jpg|In Delft, The Netherlands File:Omgeving nieuwe station Breda DSCF6621.JPG|In Breda, The Netherlands </gallery>
==See also== * Sump buster * Cattle grid
==References== {{reflist}}
{{commonscat|Bus traps}}
{{road-stub}} {{vehicle-stub}}
Category:Road infrastructure