A new exemption allowing certain vehicles to use Southampton’s bus lanes and bus-only roads is set to be introduced.

Currently, taxis and private hire vehicles licenced by other councils can only use these routes on weekdays between 7am and 9.30am and 4pm to 6.30pm.

Southampton City Council said this is impacting the school journey times of some children.

A small proportion of the home to school transport service run on behalf of the council involves vehicles that are licensed by other local authorities.

To address this officers have proposed making an amendment to Southampton’s moving traffic restrictions, which were introduced two years ago.

A public consultation on the proposal was opened early this month. Residents have until August 23 to submit their views on the changes.

A statement of reasons for the proposals has been published online by the council.

The document says: “Non-Southampton City Council licenced taxis and private hire vehicles are only permitted to use the bus lanes and bus gates within the city Monday to Friday between the hours of 7am and 9.30am and 4pm to 6.30pm provided the vehicle comply with certain emission standards.

“This requirement is having a negative impact on journey times for the small number of vehicles being used for home to school services on behalf of the council which are not licenced by Southampton City Council, with the afternoon period in particular not aligning with the times during which these vehicles are being used for this purpose.

“As such it is proposed to allow vehicles being used for home to school transport services to use the bus lanes and bus-only streets within the city, subject to compliance with any terms and conditions specified by the council.”

Southampton city centre has various bus lanes and bus gates. The latter includes Portland Terrace and East Park Terrace, which have both been introduced this year.

Portland Terrace has an automatic number plate recognition camera for enforcement.

Driver behaviour in East Park Terrace is currently being monitored by CCTV. If a large number of vehicles ignore the bus, cycle and taxi restriction, enforcement cameras could be introduced.