Red Routes

What is a red route?

A Red Route is a ‘no stopping’ restriction which has worked well on major bus routes in London for many years. The Red Routes keep key public transport moving and prevent delays for bus passengers and improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

Reading Borough Council have a combination of double-red and single-red lines to mirror the existing yellow-line controls and create a corridor ‘no-stopping’ restriction. Existing parking and loading bays along the route were to be maintained and additional facilities provided, where possible.

Double red lines will mean no vehicles can stop at any time, including to load or unload. There are some exceptions, such as hackney carriages, private hire vehicles and blue badge holders, who are allowed to stop to let passengers in and out. Single red lines will mean that drivers will be able to stop or park in accordance with the signed restriction.

The red route restrictions can be enforced by CCTV cameras, enabling efficient management of unwanted stopping movements that disrupt traffic flow and create obstacles and hazards for cyclists and pedestrians.

Parking on red routes in Reading is strictly controlled to keep traffic moving. If you park your vehicle on a red route in contravention of the regulations, you could receive a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN).

Maps of our Red Routes can be found below:

• Red route town centre plans
• Red route amendment plans
• Red route western corridor plans
• Red route eastern corridor plans

Red route dispensation

In some cases, we will allow exemptions to the existing parking controls. These are known as dispensations. The main reason we have brought in the dispensation process is to allow occasional loading and unloading in location where we have the red route however they need to stop at these locations to conduct certain activities where no other bays are suitable or can be conducted outside of the restricted hours.

We manage parking dispensations along red routes by application.

Contact us as early as possible if you want to apply for a red route dispensation. We need at least six working days (including the day we receive your request) to process your application.

Apply for a Red Route dispensation.

We will need to know the following to process any application.

• Name
• Location of dispensation
• Vehicle details including registration
• Start Date and times of dispensation period
• End Date and times of dispensation period
• Any other conditions we should be aware of and reasons for the dispensation.

If the vehicle registration is not known, please describe the vehicle that will be used, and provide the vehicle registration as soon as you have it.

We will review your application to consider the impact of your request on other road users. Our team may have to assess the impact on traffic flow and decide if there is a conflict with other scheduled activity or works.

A dispensation may not be granted where reasonable parking alternatives are available or simply for reasons of convenience. For example, if you are making a delivery, we would expect loading/unloading to take place in nearby parking or loading bays rather than immediately outside a property.

Dispensations requested for parking on single or double red lines are only granted in exceptional circumstances (such as erecting scaffolding, moving heavy items). This often requires special consideration and a review by our team and could involve conducting a site visit before the application can be granted.

If it is an emergency, you can apply for a dispensation retrospectively. If a Penalty Charge Notice is issued, please use your approval confirmation email as proof of dispensation in that area, as evidence.

If your dispensation is approved

We will contact you to confirm that your request has been approved. If a Penalty Charge Notice is issued, please use your confirmation email as proof of dispensation in that area, as evidence when making a challenge or representation.

If your dispensation is refused

We may refuse your request for a dispensation where the impact on the red route is too great or where the grounds for the dispensation are not considered appropriate.

Where possible, we will try to offer an alternative to your request. This may be an alternative time or an alternative location to the one you requested

If you still have any questions about red routes, please contact us.