DRIVERS forked out almost £2 million for straying into bus lanes last year and Bradford Council took almost 6,000 cases to court to recover payment, the Telegraph & Argus can reveal today.

And the five camera-controlled bus lanes most misused by motorists were:

  1. Bolton Road, Bradford, where 10,820 fines were issued in 2014/15;
  2. Bridge Street, Interchange, Bradford - 9,10 fines;
  3. Bridge Street, Broadway, Bradford - 8,292 fines;
  4. Nelson Street - 7,189 fines;
  5. A650 junction with Avondale Road, Shipley - 6,634 fines.

 

Overall, Bradford Council collected £1.887 million in bus lane fines between April 2014 and March this year, compared to £1.377m in 2013/14 and £906,222 in 2012/13.

A total of 68,505 Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) were issued to drivers in 2014/15, compared to 54,557 in 2013/14 and 35,541 in 2012/13.

The number of warrants approved by court for PCNs has almost doubled in the last three years. There were 6,389 in 2014/15, 4,667 in 2013/14 and 3,368 in 2012/13.

And the number of cases sent to bailiffs to recover payment has also soared to 5,934 in 2014/15, 4,597 in 2013/14 and 3,368 in 2012/13.

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But Bradford Council say the fines are an effective way of enforcing bus lanes and the cash collected is used to fund highways projects.

Steve Hartley, the Council's strategic director of environment and sport, said: "Bus lanes are part of a West Yorkshire initiative to make bus journeys quicker and encourage more people to use public transport.

"The number of penalty charges issued has gone up because the number of sites monitored and enforced by the Council has increased from five in 2012 to 19 today.

"Evidence shows that enforcement and fines are effective in encouraging drives to observe the law and adapt their behaviour to keep out of the monitored lanes, allowing the free flow of buses.

"Fines received are used to fund highways maintenance work and transport related projects."

A West Yorkshire Combined Authority denied bus lanes were used as cash cows.

"Yorkshire Combined Authority, Bradford Council and local bus operators are agreed about the benefits provided by bus lanes and see them not as an income generator but as a way of helping to keep our cities and towns moving, which in turn benefits the local economy by cutting the transport costs of local businesses,” said its spokesman.

Emma Taylor, business manager for First Bus in Bradford, added: "Bus lanes are crucial in helping us maintain a reliable service to the people of Bradford.

"Traffic congestion has a huge impact on our services, and Bradford's bus lanes help keep us moving."

But Councillor Martin Smith, the Conservative group spokesman for planning, housing and transport, called for an increase in Bradford Council's awareness campaigns for drivers of the locations of the bus lanes.

He said: "The number of fines is catastrophic, what are we not doing properly?

"We are not doing enough public awareness literature on bus lanes, which leads everybody to believe that it's a revenue stream."

And Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, Liberal Democrats group leader, warned bus lane fines have become an "industry" for councils and the system was not working.

She said: "The bottom line is these figures are really shocking.

"It's an industry now, a fundraising activity for the Council. We are clearly making a lot of money out of it but clearly not solving the problem.

"What we want to achieve is to get people not to use the bus lanes.

"People don't seem to be persuaded not to drive in bus lanes despite the threat of fines."

Bus lane fines are set at £60, reduced to £30 if paid within 14 days. But charges can increase to £90 if they remain unpaid and a £7 registration charge is added when the debt is registered at County Court.