Why is my bus late? Why am I sitting in this bus stuck in traffic? Why am I late for work again? Everyday on Canning Highway, buses full of people are forced to crawl through traffic – stuck behind single-occupant cars, running late and losing reliability. In one of Perth’s fastest growing corridors, our public transport is being held back by inaction. 

Bus priority lanes are shown to reduce congestion, increase passenger numbers and improve trip reliability. We have a great network of priority lanes around Perth but significantly they are missing from the Canning highway in the Applecross area – an area of increasing traffic and rapid population growth. The WA government has recognized the need for bus priority lanes on Canning Hwy but as of 2026 there is no funding for the project. 

Add your voice to the call for a priority bus lane to be installed along the Canning Highway. 

The facts:

-         In 2009 a WA government study supported the introduction of priority bus lanes along Canning Highway. 

-         In 2018, this was reconfirmed with the PTA study confirming the Canning “would greatly benefit from the introduction of bus priority infrastructure” 

-         This corridor on Canning hwy has at least a 40% increase in peak journey times compared to off-peak and the daily bus speed is less than 50% of the posted speed limit

-         Main roads forecast Canning highway to reach capacity by 2031

-         As of 2026 there is still no funding from the WA government for this project! 

-         For comparison, the 4.8km Beaufort Street (Mount Lawley) priority bus lane installed in 2014 cost only $14 million and resulted in a 39% uplift on bus boardings – compared to the hundreds of millions spent on removing level crossings on the Midland train line. 

What we’re calling for:

Funding for the priority bus lane from Riseley street to Canning Bridge, approx. 4.2km in length, as proposed in the 2018 Public Transport study.