Labour has responded to a popular petition which has called on the Government to allow motorcycles to use bus lanes as default.
The petition, which has already gained more than 15,000 responses, urged the Government to reverse its decision on the motorcycles in bus lanes consultation published in November last year.
It called for motorcycles to be allowed in bus lanes as standard unless local authorities decide otherwise.
The Department for Transport has finally responded after the petition reached 10,000 signatures last week with motorists eager to hear the reply.
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The petition received more than 15,000 signatures so far
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A DfT spokesperson said: "Local authorities are best placed to understand the needs of their road networks rather than central Government. The consultation did not find enough evidence of the safety benefits of change.
"The Department understands that the outcome of this consultation will have been a disappointment for some motorcyclists and associated organisations.
"In the absence of robust data from the consultation, there is little justification for moving away from a position of local authority choice to one in which allowing motorcycles to use bus lanes is the default."
Currently, only cyclists can use bus lanes with drivers facing a £160 penalty for unauthorised usage, although this can be halved to £80 if paid early.
A consultation on the changes ran last year with hopes of clearing up confusion riders faced when navigating urban areas where the traffic rules differ throughout regions.
But the DfT said that the consultation found that the safety benefits of allowing motorcycles into bus lanes were not clear in the consultation which aimed to gather up-to-date, "robust" evidence, primarily from local authorities.
The spokesperson did note that while a very large number of individual responses were received, "there were not enough from local authorities to provide the information needed".
Although many individuals responded in favour, the vast majority did not provide any supporting evidence of the benefits or risks, the DfT explained.
The Department stated that conclusions "cannot and have not been drawn" based solely on the number of people offering positive or negative comments about the proposal.
The authority added that the cost to local authorities of new traffic signs and Traffic Regulation Orders "would be considerable" and that without strong evidence it "cannot be justified".
The response stated: "The existing policy of local authority discretion also aligns well with our policies on bus service improvements, encouraging walking and cycling, and devolving powers to local government, which is at the heart of our transport ambitions.
"The Government remains committed to supporting efforts to improve the safety of motorcyclists and this policy will be kept under review."
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The DfT said it did not have sufficient evidence on how allowing motorcycles into bus lanes would impact safety
GETTYDespite being shut down by the DfT, the petition will run until August 28 with drivers urged to respond to it beforehand.
If it receives more than 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament, where it could receive further support from MPs.
