Bus lane penalties
Many councils now use CCTV cameras to stop drivers from straying into bus lanes, dishing out a PCN (penalty charge notice) and a fine if you’re caught out.
The exact cost of a PCN varies but is usually around £60, with some councils raking in over a million pounds each year from bus lane fines, but where in the country are the most drivers being caught out?
We sent Freedom of Information requests to councils around the country to find out.
The UK’s bus lane penalty hotspots
Outside of London, Manchester City Council was by far the authority bringing in the highest income from bus lane fines, receiving over £8 million pounds from 388,213 PCNs in the last year.
While it’s important to remember that not all of that figure will be profit, it still shows just how many people are getting caught out in the city.
Other cities which saw raise huge amounts from their bus lanes include Glasgow (£2.87m), as well as some smaller towns and cities such as Coventry (£2.74m) and Reading (£2.18m).
London’s bus lane penalty hotspots
Buses are a huge part of London’s extensive public transport network, so it’s not surprising to see that capital has the highest income from bus lane fines, but which boroughs bring in the most?
Lambeth Borough Council issued 41,628 bus lane PCNs in the last year, which generated £2.7 million.
This was followed by the boroughs of Ealing (£1.82m), Kingston upon Thames (£1.65m) and Camden (£1.33m).
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Methodology
We submitted Freedom of Information requests to the councils of the UK’s 50 most populated towns and cities, as well as each London borough, asking for the number of bus lane penalty charge notices issued in the 2018/19 financial year, as well as the income generated from these.
Note that not all councils use CCTV to enforce bus lane penalties and therefore could not provide us with the figures. For London, the figures relate to those bus lanes operated by the councils, rather than Transport for London.
Also, note that the income generated refers to income received for PCNs issued during the 2018/19 financial year and that some PCNs may have been cancelled or written off, or may not have been paid yet (as of 07/04/2020).