City drivers fork out £5m in bus lane fines

CITY drivers have now paid almost £5m in bus lane fines – but the council has made a profit of less than £400,000.

Cameras are in place in 13 different sites across the city and record drivers who use bus lanes.

The first cameras were turned on in December 2014 and the scheme has since been expanded with six new bus lane cameras installed.

Now, cameras are also in place for banned turns and on some yellow box junctions.

The council say that provisional figures between April 2016 until April 2017 show the scheme made £4,721,125

The most recently revealed figures to the Echo show that another £526,785 was made through yellow box fines since the cameras were installed on those in October.

The council’s specially adapted camera car added another £128,310.

The council was asked to explain why the profit margin was so low.

A spokesman said there were costs associated with staff, cameras, signs, infrastructure, back office support and the appeals process.

When asked if the scheme would be expanded, or whether the profit margins could be expected to increase, a spokesman said: “Further information on the next phase of the scheme will be released in a month or so”.

The authority has repeatedly said the scheme is not about making money but “changing drivers’ behaviour”.

Matthew Wakelam, from Cardiff council, said: “Those who receive a penalty notice for parking illegally are putting other road users and pedestrians at risk, so it is only right that they receive a financial penalty.

“With the moving traffic offences scheme, we wouldn’t have to issue financial penalties if road users abided by the Highway Code.”

He added: “To improve public transport, we have to have dedicated bus corridors, so that travel by bus becomes quicker and easier for commuters and visitors to the Welsh capital.

“Recently, we have extended this scheme to enforce against road users who take banned turns.

“This is important to ensure that these irresponsible drivers are not putting others safety at risk.

“We ask all road users to abide by the Highway Code so we can keep Cardiff moving, reduce congestion and further improve public transport infrastructure across the city.”