Wolverhampton Council rakes in £700,000 from bus lane tickets
Motorists were fined a total of nearly £700,000 for driving in Wolverhampton's bus lanes in one year.
Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that the authority issued 27,725 fixed-penalty notices for driving in the city's bus lanes during the 2020/21 financial year.
This raised £699,182 in revenue for the local authority.
Wolverhampton Council was approached for comment.
The figure is put in the shade compared to Birmingham, though, which issued 64,325 fines – bringing in more than £2.1 million.
The figures were obtained by motor-finance provider Moneybarn. Of the 51 councils which responded to the request, Manchester City Council issued the most fines, raising £3.7 million from 116,862 fixed penalty tickets.
Two years ago the Express & Star revealed how one bus-lane camera in the city was clocking an average of 22 drivers a day.
The camera in Market Street, where the bus lane had previously been suspended due to roadworks, was identified as the city's main hotspot, clocking 8,343 motorists in the space of 12 months.
The second biggest-earning location was High Street in Wednesfield, where cameras were responsible for issuing 6,280 fines.
Darlington Street, Wolverhampton Road, Willenhall Road and Stafford Street were other roads where drivers were regularly caught flouting the rules.
Last week, Walsall Council officials confirmed that a controversial bus lane would be removed, after it led to more than 35,000 fines being issued in just eight months.
The restrictions in Wolverhampton Street, which prevented motorists from turning left towards the town centre when leaving Crown Wharf retail park, were first introduced in November, 2020.
More than 35,000 drivers were fined from July last year and March.
Last week the council announced it would be lifting the ban, but said there would be no amnesty for drivers caught driving in the bus lane.
"This decision does not affect the validity of penalty-charge notices issued for contraventions whilst the experimental traffic regulation order was in place," said a statement from the council.
Staff working on the retail park said they had suffered abuse and threats from motorists stuck in long delays during peak periods such as Christmas as a result of queues.
Councillor Aftab Nawaz, leader of Walsall Council's opposition Labour group, called for the fines to be refunded.
He said at a council meeting: “I’m absolutely delighted they decided to get rid of a scheme they have finally realised was wrong.
“The bus gate was impacting on Walsall people on different levels such as businesses and taxi drivers, who are vital in bringing people in and out of the town centre, being impaired.
“Also, a lot of residents coming out of Covid and wanting to get back to the town centre were being caught out. The amount of money made should be reimbursed. It is the only fair and right thing to do. I urge the council to think more carefully before put in a silly scheme like this in the future.”
