Britain’s ‘most lucrative’ bus lane which rakes in £4,200 a day from drivers is revealed
Britain’s ‘most profitable’ bus lane earning drivers £4,200 a day has been revealed.
The Corporation Street bus gate in Preston, Lancashire, issues 47,176 fines a year; That’s 13,000 more than any other sentence in the country.
This increases the council’s coffers by £1,545,816 a year; that’s £400,000 more than the second highest-earning penalty spot and twice as much as third place.
Thousands of drivers get stuck at the bus gate every year, with many claiming they miss the small circular signs and red road signs indicating only buses are allowed through the area.
Those who drive along the 96-meter road are fined £35, and up to £105 if they do not pay within the first 21 days. Times reports.
While bus doors are generally closed to cars 24 hours a day, bus lanes often have windows that cars can use.
The enforcement on Corporation Street was implemented in May 2024 and any vehicles other than authorized buses, taxis and bicycles are banned from driving in the area.
Two cameras, one at the Marsh Lane junction and the other at the Heatley Street junction, monitor the bus gate for anyone breaking the rules.
Picture: The bus gate along Corporation Street in Preston. This is Britain’s ‘most profitable’ bus lane, earning £4,200 a day
Residents who have collectively spent more than £1 million at the hands of the productive penalty area say it is ‘a cash cow for the council’.
Keith Brierley, 83, said: ‘They collect thousands a week from people who have no idea. ‘I’ve never been caught either, but I whine enough about it that it might as well have been done.’
Last month alone, one hour on a Wednesday afternoon earned the council £490 and seven motorists stopped driving in the area.
Mr. Brierley added that he didn’t even know bus gates existed until he became aware of them in his area.
To avoid being fined, drivers must go around houses and go through a U-shaped loop before rejoining the regular part of Corporation Street.
The problem is further complicated by the fact that Friargate, which runs parallel to the bus gate, is a pedestrian zone.
Anne Fisher, 65, a volunteer at the St Catherine’s Hospice store on Corporation Street, said the road did not change width or direction to mark the start of the bus gate, attracting the attention of thousands of new motorists to the area.
‘You can’t come directly into the city center anymore, so it completely blocks people from getting in and out of Preston,’ he added. ‘All that has been done is to turn the back streets into a rat run.’
The local authority insists all revenue from fines is spent on road maintenance and safety improvements.
Drivers have been given a five-week grace period to get used to the new road signs along the bus door before penalties are imposed.
Only 109 of Corporation Street criminal victims appealed, and only 22 of these were successful.
Around half of appeals against bus lane PCNs (Penalty Charge Notices) across the country are rejected.
Labor councilor Suleman Sarwar said: ‘It is extremely frustrating that the revenue collected is being siphoned off into the wider borough pot. ‘When inspection is constant but bus frequency is not, people understandably see this as a money-making scheme.’
Vicky Brown, general manager of Gainsborough Flooring in Heatley Street, said the bus door had caused it to lose customers.
Municipalities have been fining drivers who violate bus lanes since 2005, and there are 1,153 penalty zones across the country.
1.93 million PCNs were issued from the 102 councils that responded to the freedom of information request, bringing in £49.3 million.
Manchester city council alone generated £5.3 million from 127,975 PCN.
Suffolk and Hertfordshire are among the remaining local authorities that do not impose fines for driving in bus lanes or gates.
A Lancashire County Council spokesman said: ‘The Corporation Street bus gate opened in May 2024 to improve bus reliability in a busy part of Preston city centre.
‘Following the commissioning of the bus door, the feedback from bus operators was positive.
‘Any revenue received is reinvested into Lancashire’s highway network; maintenance, safety improvements and measures that will benefit all road users are funded.’
