Bus gate cameras given backing
Plans to use ANPR cameras to catch motorists abusing a bus gate are pressing ahead.
The decision to install cameras at the bus gate between Chapelfield Way and Howard Drive in Maidstone comes after the move was given clear backing by those responding to a public consultation.
Of the 134 people who replied, 98 were in favour of the cameras and 36 against.
Typical comments in support were: “People are using it as a cut-through [and] are driving very fast and dangerously. There are lots of kids playing and it’s become very dangerous.”
Another said: “I believe this solution will be the most effective deterrent to drivers misusing the bus gate.”
But the scheme had its detractors. One said: “It’s just a war on the motorist and a revenue generation scheme.” Another said: “There are more pressing traffic issues to be addressed before this. This is targeting motorists for income once again.”
The bus gate is intended to allow residents of the new 500home Hermitage Park estate built by Croudace to be served by a bus route, while at the same time protecting the residents of the old estate in Howard Drive next door from seeing their quiet streets turned into a rat run.
The gate was originally designed with a “sump-buster” - a protrusion intended to damage low-mounted cars but allowing high-axled buses to pass over safely.
But the sump-buster proved inadequate. Many SUVS and other modern vehicles have a high ground clearance and have been able to ride over unimpeded.
It is hoped once offenders have been slapped with a few £70 fines they will desist from using the bus lane.
The cameras should be installed by Kent County Council by the end of May. Councils outside London were granted new powers in July 2022 allowing them to enforce “moving traffic offences”. Previously only the police and inner London councils had been able to do so. Cameras operated by Tunbridge Wells council on a bus gate there have generated more than £1m in fines for the council since they were installed in April 2023.