22 September 2024, 16:54
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Roads in London are “paved with fines” because income from penalty charge notices (PCNs) has increased by 57 per cent in five years, according to the AA.
Transport for London (TFL) received £89.3m in the 2023-24 financial year for perceived offences on its red route network, which increased from £56.8 million in 2018 – 2019, according to its draft annual report.
The motoring organisation AA has accused the transport authority of relying on drivers to break the rules in order to maintain its income.
TfL has said it is “essential” that traffic moves “safely and efficiently” on its network and the fines were meant to be a deterrent.
The AA accredited the rise to the increased use of new and more sophisticated CCTV cameras and TfL’s decision in January 2022 to uplift the value of penalty charge notices (PCNs) from £130 to £160.
The authority gives out PCNs for violations on red routes involving bus lanes, yellow box junctions, banned turns, stopping and parking, and typically relies on evidence from CCTV cameras.
There are approximately 367 miles (590km) of red route roads in London, so income from fines reached an average of nearly £244,000 per mile in 2023-24.
AA head of roads policy Jack Cousens said: “Dick Whittington would now say that London’s streets are paved with fines.
“So massive is the income from road traffic enforcement on London’s red routes that to lose it would leave a huge black hole in TfL finances.
“It seems TfL may need drivers to offend and generate income instead of complying with road rules.”
The draft annual report also revealed that TfL made an operating surplus of £138 million in the past financial year.
Siwan Hayward, TfL’s director of security, policing and enforcement, said: “We are committed to keeping London moving safely and efficiently, and reducing delays on London’s red routes, which is also essential to ensuring a reliable bus network for everyone.”
She added that compliance on red routes is “vital in achieving these aims”.
She said that PCNs operated as an “important deterrent to drivers” instead of generating income.
She added: “They are only issued to the small number of drivers who contravene [the rules], and the number of drivers who receive more than one PCN for reoffences remains relatively low.”
TfL was instructed by a panel of adjudicators in May 2023 to stop handing out fines based on camera evidence that said drivers illegally stopped on red routes without single or double lines, as this contravened government guidance.
A judicial review ruled in TfL’s favour in November, but AA research found that the transport authority did not contest the majority of appals from drivers issued fines for stopping on red routes.