Aberdeen Council mulls economics of bus lanes takeover and £80 fines
Aberdeen motorists could soon be fined £80 for driving in bus lanes as the city council prepares for a major crackdown. Plans have been put forward by Aberdeen City Council officers which could treble the number of drivers fined per month for being caught by roadside cameras. The authority wants to take control of the system from police to make it easier for buses to get around the city. It is estimated this will see a rise in people caught from 420 offences per month recorded by police, to 1,300. An unpublished report to be considered by various Aberdeen City Council committees over the coming weeks suggests scheme could be started on the auspicious date of April 1.
Motorists would be fined £60 in the first year, but this would increase to £80 for subsequent years. But the report reveals the move would cost the council more than it makes from running the system. It will also mean employing two new parking controllers to cope with the increase in fines.
The AA hit out at the penalties. A spokesman said: “If you have a persistent offender, then by all means fine them £80. But that is two days’ wages for some people. If somebody is new to the city and unfamiliar with the roads, then they are going to be hammered for innocently wandering into the wrong lane.”
The report from technical officer Scott Ramsay said: “It is of vital importance for the credibility of enforcement to set the penalty charges at a level that is both effective and financially sustainable but is not perceived to be excessive.” It calls the chosen deal “an acceptable compromise.”
The computer system will be based at council offices in Frederick Street. There are currently eight roadside cameras and 17 sections of bus lane included in the scheme. Those controlled by the city council are only in operation for a few hours a day. One of the cameras is sited on a road controlled by the Scottish Government and the council would either have to get special permission to include it, or pay £5,000 to move the camera elsewhere.
Aberdeen is the only city to have introduced bus lane cameras in Scotland, which were first put in place in January 2004. The new plans were originally mooted by the council last October. The different options put forward by the council could have meant as much as £500,000 a year coming in from fines.
But the final business case being put forward will see £387,410 raised in the first and only year when the council will make money from the system – an estimated £211,848. Subsequent years will see cash raised drop to £146,365, as the number of people offending drops. By year three, the council will make a loss of £22,386.
The report said this is a saving of £77,614 if the council carried on the current £30 fine which the police runs. Council leader Kate Dean said she would not comment on the report because it was still confidential.
Keith Stirton comments: Bus lanes in Aberdeen are a joke, some you are able to use at certain times, others you can't use at all. Our biggest problem in Aberdeen are the buses, not the bus lanes. They spill diesel on our roads which creates pot holes; they break down frequently; there are bus stops placed so the buses have to stop at the zig zags at pedestrian crossings.
The bendy buses take up two lanes at roundabouts. Buses travel along King Street in convoy so no one else can move. When one bus stops everyone else has to do likewise, creating massive tailbacks.Car drivers sit in queues alongside bus lane in Auchmill Road that are practicaly empty, except for the the odd taxi with no passengers and police vehicles that are not on an emergency call.
Get rid of the bus lanes and let Aberdeen's traffic flow once more. (If Aberdeen is to have bus lanes why can't they rent the use of them to the bus companies and let them pay for the maintenance & policing of them? After all companies like First Bus are making massive profits thanks to councils like Aberdeen.)
Source:http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk