Bus lane is small but perfectly lucrative
A TINY London bus lane made over £135,000 in fines after more than 2,500 drivers were fined in one year.
The bus lane next to the southward-bound bus stop on Greenford Road in Greenford generated £135,703 in fines between April 2020 and March 2021 after 2,549 motorists were fined for driving through it during that time period.
This means an average of almost seven motorists were fined for driving through the bus lane each day. According to the Highway Code, it is illegal to drive through or stop in bus lanes during their period of operation.
The Greenford Road bus lane is located on a single carriageway residential road and is operational at all times, with no stopping allowed, with CCTV monitoring in place. It serves bus routes H17 and 487 to Harrow and South Harrow respectively.
To avoid driving in the bus lane, motorists must stop and allow each other to pass. According to the council’s website, motorists in Ealing who drive through bus lanes when they are not allowed to are fined £130 by the council, although that amount is halved if paid within 14 days of the fine being issued.
When asked by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, residents in Greenford seemed unaware that they were not allowed to drive through the bus lane, with several saying they did not know CCTV cameras were in operation there. According to the council, money collected through penalty charge notices and other parking fines is used to fund parking services in the borough, with any extra money used for creating cycle lanes and repairing potholes.
Some of the money raised from fines helps pay for the £10million freedom pass scheme which allows elderly Ealing residents to travel around London for free.
A spokesperson for Ealing Council said: “At Ealing, our aim is compliance with the parking and traffic restrictions that are designed to keep road users safe, promote sustainable modes of transport and reduce harmful vehicle emissions. There was an average of approximately 7 PCNs issued per day at the site during 2020/21.
“The fact that this number of contraventions is occurring suggests enforcement is needed at this location and we’ll continue to use it as a means of deterring
those that don’t follow the rules from driving in operational bus lanes until the need is no longer there.”