Nearly a quarter of the fines issued in relation to the Bristol Bridge bus gate - which has raised more than £4.5m so far - have been cancelled following successful appeals.
Data released by Bristol City Council shows that, from November 2020 to the end of January this year, a total of 176,289 fines were issued. This means that, on average, more than 11,000 fines are being handed out a month - more than 350 a day, or more than 10 per hour.
Up until the end of January, a total of 122,291 fines had been paid, which meant £4,513,686 had been raised through the scheme. Despite 69 per cent of the fines having been paid, nearly a quarter (23 per cent) were cancelled following an appeal and eight per cent remain unpaid.
READ MORE: Driver's Bristol Bus Gate fine quashed because warning signs 'inadequate'
The data also shows that a total of 39,145 fines remained unpaid at the end of January, which is more than £1.5m. On the other hand, a total of 14,223 fines have been cancelled following a successful appeal, with these cancelled fines having a value of £555,202.
The trial closure of the bridge and some nearby routes to most traffic was made permanent last July, with £1.6m raised in the nine months to July after 81,000 fines were handed out.
Last August, a woman who was given a ticket for driving through the new city centre bus gate had her fine quashed because the signs warning her about it weren’t good enough. Following the adjudication by a fines tribunal, Bristol City Council painted more warnings on the road and created lanes telling drivers that they were not allowed to go through the Baldwin Street junction at the side of Bristol Bridge.
But just last month a pensioner complained about the signage at the Bristol Bridge bus gate after receiving three fines in the space of three months.
The closure has banned general traffic from Bristol Bridge; Baldwin Street between St Augustine’s Parade and Marsh Street; Baldwin Street to High Street; and Union Street's left turn onto Rupert Street. Buses, motorcycles, taxis and cycles are given priority under the order.
Most penalty charge notices (PCNs) were the result of motorists being caught by the camera on Victoria Street, with 47,656 fines issued. A further 41,892 PCNs were handed out as a result of the camera on Baldwin Street with the High Street junction.
The camera on High Street with the Baldwin Street junction was responsible for 35,244 of the PCNs, while the one on Baldwin Street with the Marsh Street junction resulted in 26,268. On the other hand, the camera on Baldwin Street with Broad Quay led to 18,087 of the PCNs and the camera on Union Street to The Haymarket captured images that led to 7,142 fines.
The figures also show that, on average, more fines are now being issued per month than at the start of the bus gate enforcement, when the average was 9,000 fines a month.
Bristol City Council has previously said: “Giving permanent priority to buses, cyclists and pedestrians over Bristol Bridge has reduced traffic in the central area of the city and improved bus punctuality and journey times, without causing significant problems elsewhere on the network.
"The changes are helping to improve air quality and making it easier for people to catch the bus, walk and cycle in the city centre. The scheme has been well publicised, and we have even installed larger signs in the area to make it even clearer for motorists that the bridge is closed to private vehicles.
"An initial period of soft enforcement, where we issued warnings rather than fines, was also designed to give motorists time to get used to the new restrictions. Fines are issued to vehicles that don’t comply with this.
"We continue to monitor the measures and will consider additional physical changes to help emphasise the new road layout, such as red road surfacing in the bus lanes.”
