Spotted...

I go down that bus lane every morning. I know it's a shitter for cyclists who refuse to look around them and that technically it's not open to bikes but I always feel that the abysmal road service within it is Christ our Lord paying me back for my naughtiness.

yeah I use it when in that area too. Actually didn't honestly realise I'm not meant to.

Oops.

We've always argued that all bus lanes, including contraflow bus lanes, should be open to cyclists--obviously on grounds of best permeability for cyclists (http://www.hackney-cyclists.org.uk/permproj.htm), but also because of course in practice nearly all cyclists ignore such restrictions, anyway, and that can be hazardous if no provision is made for it, as in the case of this lane, where the straight-on movement is de-emphasised because it is not expected that buses will have any trouble with positioning and cyclists are not considered.

In this case, TfL were actually perfectly willing to allow it until the above technical reason became apparent during the design. As usual, of course, we argued for full two-way around Russell Square, but that wasn't done when the scheme was put in some years ago. These things are always work in progress. I'll check with Camden Cycling Campaign whether there's been any decisions.