Bus Lanes=Green light for bikes FIRST!
 

I bike to a park and ride and bus the rest of the way to work. Leading up to the park and ride there is a bus only lane to help the buses get around traffic and congestion. Typically this lane is empty so I use it, more or less, as a bike lane. I stopped at the light on the car sensor and the light turned green for me first while all of the other lights were red. The intention is to allow the bus to get over a few lanes to make a left at the next light but it works for bikes too! Could be a useful tool to help get across lanes ect if you have any in your area.

Sidenote: I can trip any car sensor with my aluminum bikes as long as I park the drivetrain directly over the metal strip.

which metal strip do you pull over to trip the sensor, the one parallel to the direction of travel, or perpendicular? I'm guessing the parrallel one would expose more of the sensor to the steel in the bike. (I don't think the aluminum trips the light, but rather the steel in the BB. I think it needs to be a ferrous metal.)

This is a regular on bikeforums. The detection loops work thro' induction and will/should be affected by any electrical conducting material, not just ferrous.

Read http://www.phred.org/~josh/bike/SignalDetection.html for a full explanation.

Am I missing something? I don't mean to be a dictator, cause I have limited experience with traffic laws, especially with bikes. But, is a bike a bus? Does bus only mean, "bus only, except bikes?"

In Seattle it is tolerated though most likely not strictly legal. The police do not stop bikes from riding on bus only streets, though they do stop any car doing the same thing.

I like bus and bike lanes and lights in Seattle. I find it makes things smooth along 3rd during rush hour and also north in Snohomish County on Aurora Ave (right lane right turning traffic, buses and bikes only- very smooth at rush hour) and that street that runs north from Lake City to Bothell - 522? north end down the huge hill

...funny thing, at the bus light just north of the Aurora Bridge if you headed north on the bridge then left the bridge deck to turn west into fremont,

I had two cyclists, with bikes on the car, screaming and yelling at me for using the bus signal. If those lamebrain so-called cyclists read this, bugger off - using a preffered class vehicle light like a bus light makes traffic smoother for everyone.

Most cities with bus only bus lanes do make a legal exception which allows cyclist to use the bus lane. Generally, busses tend to travel at the same speed as a commuting cyclist.

Check your city ordances if your city has bus only lanes.

If you must do this, and a bus pulls up behind you, please get out of its way so it can actually take advantage of the head start.

here in Hartford the "bus lanes" are also classified as bike lanes, what is funny I think is busses never use them they pull into main stream traffic