£2m BUS GATE FINES ARE JUST NOT FARE
Authority is blasted over cash cow traffic traps
A WHOPPING £2million has been raked in from motorists driving through a new bus gate in Scotland’s biggest city.
Cars are banned from the junction of Union Street and Gordon Street, near Central Station in Glasgow, from 7am to 7pm, to ease traffic congestion.
But almost 100 drivers a day have fallen foul of the measure and have been hit with £60 fines.
S c o t l a n d ’s highest- earning bus gate issued a record 32,000 fines last year, despite coronavirus restrictions and lockdown.
Campaigners expressed dismay at the level of fines at the bus gate, which only opened in late 2019 but has already issued more than £2million of tickets to drivers.
Meanwhile, the city’s other new bus gate – on the opposite
Even during lockdown, fines were in the millions COUNCILLOR THOMAS KERR TORY LEADER
side of Central Station at the junction of Midland Street and Oswald Street – was responsible for more than 15,000 fines last year. The Union Street tickets were by far the most issued by a single bus gate or lane camera in Scotland in 2020.
Luke Bosdet, from the AA, said: “It will come as little surprise to drivers in Glasgow that the city’s bus lane cameras continued to thrive during a year which has seen lockdowns, commuters working from home and reduced high street trading.”
Drivers travelling in a bus lane or through a bus gate are issued with a £60 fine which is reduced to £30 if paid within 14 days. The fine increases to £90 if unpaid within 28 days.
Previous research showed 60 per cent of fines issued in Glasgow during one month in the summer of 2019 went to postcodes outside the city, demonst rating drivers unfamiliar with the road layout were being heavily hit and suggesting signage was unclear.
Councillor Thomas Kerr, Tory group leader, said: “The fact that even during lockdown fines have been in the millions is a stealth tax in all but name.”
Glasgow City Council said signs for bus gates and lanes was fully compliant with roads legislation and in many cases went beyond what was required by law.