News

Fury over plans for cameras in bus lanes

By Iain Harrison

FURIOUS motorists hit back last night after city bosses threatened to install spy cameras on bus lanes.

Edinburgh Council wants to take over control of the capital’s greenways from the police.

Local authority chiefs in Glasgow and Aberdeen are demanding similar powers.

They have asked ministers to amend the law to allow them to install cameras on bus-only routes. 

Drivers who inadvertently stray into a reserved lane at the wrong time could be fined as much as £100.

Transport bosses insist the proposed measures will help traffic flow and improve the quality of bus services.

But motoring groups have accused them of targeting drivers to raise revenue.

“Easy pickings”

Hugh Bladon, of the Association of British Drivers, said, “This has absolutely nothing to do with safety or traffic flow, it’s just another tax on motorists.

“These cameras will provide easy pickings for councils struggling to make ends meet.

“It would be crazy to place bus lane enforcement in their hands and I don’t think motorists will stand for it.”

Bus lanes have become a familiar sight in Scotland’s cities. 

But as they are usually empty of traffic, many motorists use them as a means of escaping congestion.

Currently only the police have powers to fine motorists who drive in the lanes but, in practice, they rarely use them.

The move to hand over control to councils is forecast to provide them with millions of pounds in extra revenue.

Much of the cash is expected to come from motorists perplexed by bus lanes’ inconsistent operating hours.

Permanently barred

In some areas cars are permanently barred from entering the lanes while others operate only during rush hours.

Many more are restricted between 7.30 am and 6.30 pm on weekdays and 8.30 am and 6.30 pm on Saturdays.

Even police chiefs have admitted the rules and regulations surrounding them can be confusing.

The schemes in Scotland would follow similar programmes introduced in congested cities in England.

Philip Gomm of the RAC Foundation said, “Many motorists equate cameras with easy money for councils to shore up their dwindling budgets. 

“Bus lane rules need to be enforced but only to help keep public transport moving. 

Flouted

“If the regulations are being repeatedly flouted then councils need to ask why. 

“Is it that drivers are being squeezed off the streets by buses which, despite the myths, are not a convenient way of travelling for everybody?”

Jim Coleman, of Glasgow City Council, said civil bus lane enforcement would benefit bus passengers.

He added, “It would allow the city to respond better to the problems created by the abuse of lanes by the minority of drivers who inconvenience thousands of travellers and threaten safety every day.”

Edinburgh Council’s Gordon Mackenzie also said the measures were designed to clamp down on the “minority” who flout the law.

A spokesman for Aberdeen City Council, which expects to snare up to 1300 drivers every month in the bus lane clampdown, said, “Under the proposed system, enforcement could be better carried out and money generated through the issuing of penalty notices would go to the local authority.” 

SPY CAMERAS hanging over bus lanes have been a familiar sight in Aberdeen for more than six years.

Grampian Police and the city council splashed out £410,000 in January 2004 on a network of traps.

But because the law did not allow the local authority to enforce bus lane offences the police took control.

It assumed responsibility for identifying queue-jumpers from the tapes and for prosecuting offenders.

During a three-day trial run a staggering 436 motorists were snapped by a single camera.

But a year later the system was branded a waste of money after it was revealed only 10 per cent of cheats were being issued with fines.

It later emerged the force could not afford to pay for an IT upgrade to allow images from the cameras to be processed.