REVEALED: £5k-a-day made from Wolverhampton bus lane cameras
Notorious bus lane cameras in the city centre are helping clock up £5,000-a-day from drivers.
The total income from 12 cameras on streets around Wolverhampton from April 2016 to April 2017 was £1,870,629.
This equates to the cameras bringing in £5,121 a day.
The back-to-back cameras on Victoria Square, which monitor Pipers Row and Lichfield Road continue to be the spot where most drivers are caught out.
The new figures show locals are still getting fined alongside out-of-towners.
A total of 41,407 people outside of the WV postcode area were fined in 2016/17 in comparison to 24,379 in 2015/16.
And 33,810 motorists from Wolverhampton fell foul of the bus lane cameras in 2015/16, but had wised-up by 2016/17, as only 29,610 were caught in 2016/17.
In total 71,017 people have received fines compared to just over 58,189 in 2015/16. In 2015/16, the income from fines was £1,307,432.
Councillor Wendy Thompson, Conservative group leader and councillor for Tettenhall Wightwick said: “I think this is absolutely terrible. What is the point of trying to attract visitors to Wolverhampton then hitting them with fines.”
Other cameras are on Willenhall Road, Stafford Street, Wolverhampton Road, Wednesfield Road, Cleveland Street, Wednesfield High Street, Darlington Street and Hall Street in Bilston.
Some locations have more than one camera.
A Wolverhampton council spokesman said: “In common with many other towns and cities, we introduced cameras to deal with the problem of drivers using bus lanes. Surplus is reinvested into the highways.”
The council was unable to provide the details of how many people had successfully appealed the penalty charge notices as part of the Freedom of Information request.
Penalty charge notices for using a bus lane vary from £50 to £70 and are halved if paid within two weeks.
