5.4 Bus Rules and Heavy or Long Vehicle Parking
Key Takeaways
Give way to a qualifying bus moving from the left roadside in a built-up area when it displays the required give-way sign and right indicator.
A BUS ONLY lane is more restrictive than a BUS lane; a truck cannot follow a bus through on a white B signal.
Heavy vehicles above 4.5 t GVM and long vehicles at least 7.5 m generally have a one-hour parking limit in built-up areas unless an exception applies.
Learn bus rules even if you intend to drive a truck
The heavy vehicle test covers buses as well as freight vehicles. Other drivers also need to recognise bus priority and bus lane controls. A bus’s size does not create automatic right of way, and a truck does not become eligible for a bus lane simply because it is a commercial vehicle.
A BUS lane and a BUS ONLY lane have different rules. A bus lane permits the vehicle categories specified by the rules and any sign conditions. Some other vehicles can use it for limited purposes, such as the relevant permitted entry or exit movement. A bus-only lane generally restricts travel to public buses, with narrow obstruction and crossing exceptions. Read the lane marking, sign and times; do not apply the ordinary bus-lane entry allowance to bus-only lanes.
Bus priority from the roadside
In a built-up area, a driver must give way to a bus in the specified situation when it is stopped or moving slowly at the far-left side ahead, displays the required give-way-to-buses sign and has its right indicator operating to enter the traffic lane. The bus driver must still make the movement safely. The rule is not an entitlement for every bus to move across any number of lanes.
For a truck approaching a bus stop, anticipate departure and reduce speed early if necessary. Check traffic behind before braking, but do not refuse to give way simply because another driver is close. Leave space for the bus to enter and keep a predictable path. If the bus is not making the specified movement, apply the ordinary lane-change and give-way rules.
| Situation | Driver decision |
|---|---|
| Bus meets roadside-priority conditions in built-up area | Give way to its entry into the traffic lane |
| Bus changes lanes later in the journey | Ordinary lane-change duties apply |
| Truck approaches a BUS ONLY lane | Do not travel along it without a genuine applicable exception |
| White B signal while general signal is red | Only the vehicles authorised for that signal may proceed |
| Passenger boarding near a stopped bus | Allow for pedestrians and sudden movement |
B signals
B lights control public buses in the applicable bus lane or bus-only lane, and any other specially authorised class under the rules. A white B permits the authorised vehicle to proceed subject to the relevant duties. A red B requires it to remain stopped; yellow requires stopping unless it is unsafe to do so. A truck must obey its own signal and cannot follow the bus through merely because the bus has moved.
A bus driver should identify the signal controlling the actual lane and movement, rather than respond to a nearby signal for another lane. Pedestrians and blocked exits still need attention. A permissive signal does not authorise driving into a queue that leaves the bus across an intersection or crossing.
Stopping a bus safely
Approach a stop smoothly and position the bus parallel to the kerb as the site allows. The handbook describes stopping close to the kerb, generally within 300 mm, to help safe boarding and alighting. Secure the vehicle appropriately and check passengers and surroundings before moving. Doors and passenger movement require attention alongside mirrors and traffic.
Before moving from the stationary roadside position, signal for at least five seconds and confirm the traffic path. Priority rules do not remove the need for that safe departure. Avoid harsh acceleration that can destabilise standing passengers. Passenger-service operations can also require ancillary authority and operating standards beyond the heavy vehicle class itself.
Heavy and long vehicle stopping rules
Road rule 200 adds restrictions for heavy vehicles above 4.5 t GVM and long vehicles at least 7.5 m. Outside a built-up area, stopping on the road generally requires the vehicle to be on the shoulder, subject to the rule’s exceptions. The location must still be safe and lawful; a narrow shoulder beside a blind bend is not automatically acceptable.
In a built-up area, a heavy or long vehicle generally must not stop for longer than one hour unless a traffic control device or another legal provision permits it. The goods-delivery exception applies to a vehicle other than a bus only while the driver is engaged in dropping off or picking up goods throughout the stopped period. Tasmania also permits a bus to remain longer in a bus zone without breaching its parking controls, or in a qualifying parking space while its meter or voucher machine is not operating. Do not present delivery as an unlimited exemption from every other parking rule. A loading zone also has its own vehicle, activity and time conditions.
Ordinary parking controls continue
Do not stop where a NO STOPPING sign applies unless a genuine legal exception covers the situation. NO PARKING normally permits only brief dropping off or picking up with the driver remaining within the rule’s conditions. A clearway, bus zone, pedestrian crossing or obstruction rule can apply even where no convenient alternative is nearby. Hazard lights do not make an otherwise unlawful delivery stop legal.
Consider a long truck waiting for a warehouse slot on a suburban street. If it is simply waiting rather than carrying out a qualifying delivery activity, the driver should not assume the one-hour rule disappears. Arrange an appropriate staging area. Park so the complete vehicle, not just the cab, avoids blocking driveways, crossings and sightlines.
Key decisions
Identify the exact bus lane or priority conditions and use a lawful parking location suitable for the entire vehicle. Commercial activity does not create a general exemption.
Official sources
Road Rules 2019, rules 77, 154, 154A, 200 and B-light provisions; handbook bus operations. Sources checked 10 October 2026.
A truck faces a red general traffic signal while a bus beside it receives a white B. May the truck follow the bus?
Yes, all heavy vehicles may use a B signal
No; the white B does not authorise the truck’s movement
Yes, if the truck is empty
Yes, after waiting five seconds
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