A proposal to allow motorcycles use bus lanes has been accepted by the Minister for Transport Martin Cullen and a pilot is due to get underway soon.
The issue was discussed by the board of the Road Safety Authority and the Department of Transport is now working to design a pilot.
The move follows lobbying, including from the Irish Motorcyclists Action Group (Mag).
Mag claims that allowing motorcycles to use bus lanes will improve overall vehicle flow and would lead to fewer crashes among motorcyclists.
The 34,300 motorcyclists in the State make up just 1.6 per cent of vehicles on the roads but almost 10 per cent of fatalities.
In a number of European cities motorcycles are already allowed to use bus lanes. The British Department of Transport has given local authorities the power to implement such a scheme where they feel it is appropriate.
However, a recently completed 18-month study by Transport for London (TfL), the agency responsible for integrating the city's transport system, suggests that there might only be minimal road safety gains from such a policy.
Although a final decision has yet to be taken, a TfL spokesman said the road safety benefits remained unproven, although he added the caveat that the numbers of motorcyclists was very small compared with other road users, so minor changes may not be reflected.
Conor Faughnan of AA road watch said, if introduced, the move would be a positive one from a congestion point of view and would regularise the reality that motorcycles already use bus lanes.
Mr Faughnan said such a move would improve road safety among motorcyclists.
