'Preston bus lane fines should be used to improve the city's roads,' councillors say

That was the call from a Preston City Council task group set up to explore highways issues.

During 2018/19, a total of 47,514 penalty charge notices were issued by Lancashire County Council for bus lane breaches – the vast majority of which occurred in Preston. Two locations controlled by what are officially known as “bus gates” – points at which all prohibited traffic should stop – are thought to account for all but a handful of the fines generated across the entire county.

Almost 31,000 drivers unlawfully drifted into the infamous restricted area on Fishergate in the city centre – mistakes which boosted the County Hall’s coffers by at least £920,000. The exact figure could be much higher, depending on how many motorists paid up within 14 days to get their fines reduced from £60 to £30.

The bulk of the remaining charges are thought to relate to the bus gate close to the Broughton bypass – still within Preston’s borders – which is designed to discourage drivers from using the old A6 route through the village instead of the new James Towers Way. Only a small number of fines were issued for breaches of a monitored bus lane in Accrington.

Overall, a minimum of £1.4m was brought in by bus lane enforcement in the last financial year – and Preston city councillor and task group chair Salim Desai says that if the majority of the money was raised in the city, then it should stay in the city to improve its roads and transport.

“There are traffic issues in the city centre that need resolving and we also need to think about alternative transport links like trams – all of which needs funding,” Cllr Desai said.

“We need a proper transport strategy for Preston city centre and any money that could be diverted into that would help.”

But highways authority Lancashire County Council says that some of the bus lane cash is used to maintain and administer the schemes – and that it has county-wide responsibilities over how to spend the rest of it.

“The purpose of the bus lanes is to improve traffic management, and encourage use of public transport, and we would be happy if we didn’t make a penny from enforcement,” said County Cllr Keith Iddon, cabinet member for highways.

“As the busiest city in Lancashire, Preston already generates high levels of investment in transport improvements compared with other parts of the county. However, it is our responsibility to consider future priorities on a county-wide basis, and it would not be appropriate to link this to any surplus generated by enforcement of regulations.”

The Fishergate bus lane was dubbed “the most lucrative in Britain” by the national press back in 2017. It was found to be generating £16,000 per week in fines after CCTV cameras monitoring it were first switched back on following a 10-month hiatus.

That came in the wake of a ruling by a traffic penalty adjudicator, who said that the signage advising motorists of the restrictions had been inadequate when it was installed a year earlier. £1.3m in fines was eligible to be recouped by drivers as a result.