City takes over £1.3m in bus lane penalties

BIRMINGHAM City Council raked in more than a million pounds from bus lane fines last year.

New figures reveal £1.36 million was collected from the penalty notices in 2017/18 – though that was slightly down from the £1.41 million the council raked in the year before.

Comparable records at a local level go back as far as 2015/16 when the council collected £3.60 million.

Birmingham council spent £336,000 on staff and £292,000 on running expenses for bus lane enforcement in 2017/18. It means the council’s net profit was £733,000.

RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: “While enforcement is needed to avoid abuse, it is unfortunately very often the case that bus lane and bus gate signs are not easy for drivers to take in and understand at a glance, which leads to confusion and lots of accidental contraventions.

“Most drivers do not deliberately drive in a bus lane illegally, so some penalty charge notice are probably due to confusion about signs and road lay-outs rather than a flagrant abuse of the rules by drivers.

“In our experience sharp increases in bus lane fines are usually down to confusion rather than purposeful behaviour change.

“There may also be instances of drivers picking up fines as a result of letting emergency vehicles through which we would hope authorities routinely cancel.”

Motorists usually have up to 28 days to pay bus lane fines, with reduced payments offered for faster payments, or they can dispute it with the local authority who issued it.

If they fail to get the council to

overturn it, they can appeal to the

Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

This can lead to a telephone hearing where the driver discusses their case with an adjudicator. A decision is usually given at the end of the call.

Claire Walters, chief executive of the charity Bus Users, said: “Buses reduce congestion and improve air quality – just one double-decker bus can take up to 75 cars off the road.

“So keeping bus lanes clear not only ensures buses run on time, it encourages even more people to use them which, ultimately, benefits everyone.”

In 2014 there was uproar when the city council wrongly fined 50,000 drivers for straying into city centre bus lanes which were not clearly marked.

An appeals tribunal ruled the fines should not be enforced because of poor signposts.

In total, councils across England raked in £38.9 million from bus lane penalties in 2017/18. That was up from £30.6 million the year before and £26.2 million in 2015/16.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Traffic enforcement is vital for reducing congestion and deterring unsafe drivers, and we are revising guidance to help local authorities carry this out in a reasonable and proportionate manner.”