Plans to triple the length of bus lanes in Athens have been placed in doubt after it emerged that confusion over regulations about who can use them and at what times, as well as a lack of policing, have led to the current routes being consistently blocked by both moving and parked cars.

In figures made public by the traffic police yesterday, it was revealed that during the first four months of this year alone more than 5,000 bus lane offenses were recorded by traffic cameras and officers. The cameras detected 2,852 cases of cars being driven in bus lanes during hours when they were not permitted, while 2,278 tickets were issued for such offenses.

Meanwhile, during the same January-April period, more than 7,200 cars had been illegally parked in the capital’s bus lanes. More than 2,200 of these had to be removed by cranes.

In both 2007 and 2008 some 20,000 drivers received penalties for illegally driving or parking in bus lanes. It is expected that this year the total number will be higher as the closure of part of Metro Line 3 meant that more people were using their cars to get to Ethniki Amyna, the last station on the line, and there were a large number of violations on the bus lane along Mesogeion Avenue as a result.

The bus lanes on both sides of Mesogeion Avenue as well as those on Vassileos Constantinou, Vassilissis Sofias and Kifissias avenues are the ones where most offenses are recorded.

When added together, the bus lanes in Athens extend for just 50 kilometers but the previous government had agreed plans with the Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA) to create many more routes and increase their combined total to some 150 kilometers.

However, sources said that given the high rate at which drivers violate bus lanes, transport experts are now advising authorities to devise better ways to ensure the routes are protected before they start creating more of them.