Published: 02:17 AEST, 7 June 2024 | Updated: 02:21 AEST, 7 June 2024
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Bus lanes are a 'huge money-spinner' making £80 million in fines a year for local councils the latest damning figures reveal.
According to the data £50 million was made in London alone while motorists in other major British cities were also hit hard in 2022-2023.
In Manchester drivers were fined £4.8, while in Bristol bureaucrats hauled in £2.9 million, in Essex the figure was £2.5 million, and in Leeds £2 million was made from fining car owners.
AA spokesman Luke Bosdet branded the scheme a 'huge money-spinner'- adding the councils use the cameras on a massive scale.
He said: 'Bus lanes are a huge money-spinner for many local authorities that enforce them. The cameras that monitor them haul in fines on an industrial scale.'
Manchester's Oxford Road where bus lane cameras made £7m a year
A 39ft bus lane in Northholt Road, Harrow, made £440,000 in fines between 2019 and 2021
Clapham Park Road which made £2 million in a year due to its unclear road signs
AA analysis of Department for Transport statistics shows English local authorities generated a combined £127.3 million in revenue from fining motorists for driving in bus lanes when not allowed during the 2022/23 financial year.
Taking £47.7 million of costs into account, this resulted in a total surplus of £79.6 million.
Only yesterday, Karen Cameron, driver from Merton, south west London successfully fought a fine for allegedly driving in a bus lane on 8 August last year.
Adjudicator Sean Stanton-Dunne ruled the evidence from the cameras used by the London Borough of Merton were unreliable.
In his ruling he said local councils must get the permission of the government to use and rely on cameras in bus lanes.
Mr Stanton-Dunne said he was not certain in Ms Cameron's case this was granted and ruled: 'It follows that the evidence from the camera is not admissible and that there is, therefore, no evidence of the appellant’s vehicle being in contravention of bus lane restrictions.'
In 2022, the MailOnline tracked down the worst bus lane in Britain- in Clapham Park Road, Lambeth south London- which made £2 million in just one year.
At one stage this averaged out at £5,300 a day owing to drivers mistakenly turning left into a bus lane near Clapham Common.
Bus lane rules vary, with some only operating at periods of peak congestion, or open to certain other vehicles such as taxis and motorbikes.
Many are enforced by cameras, leading to fines being issued for improper use.
Drivers who enter a bus lane when not permitted on a Transport for London (TfL) road face being handed a Penalty Charge Notice of £160, reduced to £80 if paid within a specific time frame.
In another shocking case 7,854 drivers on Northholt Road on a junction just 39ft long were fined £440,000 in just under two years between 2019 and 2021.
As with Ms Cameron, one driver Geoffrey Ben-Nathan, 77, overturned his fine after fighting the case with Harrow Council.
The grandfather who has said the stretch of road 'must be the smallest bus lane in London,' argued the rules were 'unclear' as the rest of the restrictions along the same route only applied at certain times of the day.
He then submitted a Freedom of Information to find out how many other drivers had fallen foul of the bus lane.
But Mr Bosdet added: 'The problem is that, for many sites, the number of drivers caught doesn't go down.
'That strongly suggests that signage and road markings often don't do their job in directing drivers away from bus lanes, which need to be kept clear to maintain the efficiency of public transport.
'It's hard to believe that so many motorists throw themselves into bus lanes like lemmings, for the joy of losing a day's wages.'
The Local Government Association was approached for a comment.
Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd
Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group
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