A car was caught wrongly driving in a Bath bus lane every 18 minutes last year.
The bus lane at the bottom of New Bond Street | Image © Google 2019
Seven cameras across the city snapped motorists 28,614 times, and more than half of them were caught out on Pulteney Bridge.
Bus lane fines netted Bath and North East Somerset Council £831,600 last year, although appeals and late payments mean those figures do not tally up.
The income is up from 2017/18, when 22,427 fixed penalty notices were issued and £616,000 was added to the council’s coffers.
The fines were handed out to cars entering bus lanes in High Street, New Bond Street, Northgate Street, Pulteney Bridge, Wells Road, Wellsway and London Road.
Drivers who get caught out are encouraged to choose the early payment option of £30.
Those who fail to pay in time may have to fork out £60.
Some 2,572 drivers challenged their penalty in 2018/19 and 1,350 were successful.
Many more motorists will have to put their hand in their pocket when the clean air zone is introduced at the end of next year.
Non-compliant taxis and vans will have to pay £9 per day to enter; the charge for the worst polluting lorries, buses and coaches will be £100.
Private cars will not be charged.
Councillor Joanna Wright, joint cabinet member for transport services, said: “Motorists who feel they have been wrongly issued with a fine are able to appeal to the independent adjudicator.
“All our bus lane signage and restrictions comply with the regulations prescribed by central government.
“The clean air zone charges will be subject to the same strict regulations.
“Any money the council receives as a result of bus lane contraventions can be used for bus lane funding, providing passenger transport services and for highway improvement projects.”
How the fines break down
- Pulteney Bridge – 14,489
- New Bond Street – 5,539
- High Street – 3,876
- Northgate Street – 1,989
- London Road – 1,407
- Wells Road – 1,124
- Wellsway – 190
Stephen Sumner, Local Democracy Reporter
