Lane sharing is the use of a single lane by multiple types of transportation. It is commonly used to describe cyclists and motorists sharing a lane, where no dedicated bike lane is present.
Lanes are sometimes shared between bicycles and motor vehicles at intersections; when a bike lane is on the side of a road, turning vehicles may use the bike lane in addition to cyclists.
When lane sharing is done by using space between lines of traffic, it is called
lane splitting
Lane splitting is riding a bicycle or motorcycle between lanes or rows of slow moving or stopped traffic moving in the same direction. It is sometimes called whitelining, or stripe-riding. This allows riders to save time, bypassing traffic cong ...
. This is legal in some areas at intersections, where motorcycle users may use the spaces between cars to queue at a red light.
Types
Trams and road traffic
Trams
A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
sometimes share lanes with road traffic, including cars, trucks, buses, and cyclists. Trams may have special rules giving them the right of way in such situations. Shared lanes which include both trams and cyclists may pose a hazard for the latter, due to the rails in the roadway. Where trams share lanes with motor vehicles, traffic lights are often modified to accommodate them.
Dedicated lanes can be used for buses and trams, excluding cars. By separating both buses and trams from private vehicles, both forms of public transportation can handle increased frequency with better reliability.
References
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Driving