New figures have found that Glaswegians are forking out £11,000 a day in fines for driving in bus lanes, which is three times more than Edinburgh and Aberdeen combined, despite all three cities having a similar amount of bus lane cameras.
174,448 penalty notices were issued in Glasgow between April 2012 and July 2013, which is an average of 397 penalties a day. This generated an income of £11,075 per day for Glasgow City Council. In Edinburgh and Aberdeen, around 100 penalties were issued per day since the cameras were installed in March 2013.
Glasgow currently has 11 cameras around the city that capture number plate information. Since the system was launched, motorists have paid an unbelievable total of £4,862,129 in bus lane penalties.
What happens if I’m caught driving in a bus lane?
- Anyone caught driving in a Glasgow bus lane will be issued with a £60 fine, reduced to £30 if paid within 14 days.
- If you feel you’ve received a fine unfairly you can appeal in writing to Glasgow City Council within 28 days of receiving the penalty.
Glasgow City council has defended its use of bus lane cameras, saying that there has been a decrease of 10,000 in the number of penalties issued in May 2013, compared to the same period the year before. A spokesperson told the Glasgow Evening Times, “For those who do abuse bus lanes, camera enforcement should act as a deterrent.”
Motoring groups have expressed concern however. Neil Greig from the Institute of Advanced Motoring told the Glasgow Evening Times:
‘"You shouldn't be seeing 400 fines a day at this stage. Something is wrong if that's happening. The signposting is wrong, or it's confusing, as people should have learned by now. It should not be seen by Glasgow as a good way of making money.
“The road markings in Glasgow are often very poor and if they're making this much money from fines they've got no excuse not to fix it."
We have a range of people carriers that might make you feel like you’re driving a bus – but please remember not to drive them in the bus lane.