Drivers in Aberdeen are being stung by bus lane penalties every ten minutes on one busy street as the city council rakes in £1.1million a year in fines.
More than 40,000 tickets were issued in the last twelve months as part of a drive to speed up public transport journeys.
Aberdeen City Council says issuing £60 penalties helps speed up bus journeys and reduces pollution – with the revenues spent on traffic improvements.
But the shocking seven-figure sum prompted a split within the ruling town house administration as a senior Tory branded it a “tax” on motorists.
Conservative Ross Thomson said the policy had begun to look more like a money-making scheme for the cash-strapped local authority.
“It is nearly four years since the bus lane cameras were introduced and we really should be seeing a significant drop in the number of offences by now,” the MSP and councillor said.
“The number of drivers caught each month on Great Northern Road and King Street in particular suggest that this is not as effective a deterrent as it should be.
“If we are not seeing a change in behaviour, then we need to ask if this has simply become a revenue-raising exercise for the council and another tax on motorists.”
Figures obtained by the Press and Journal using freedom of information laws show there were 7,000 fines issued for offences on King Street alone in the year to February.
That is around one for around every ten minutes that the three peak-time cameras are in operation and raised almost £230,000 for council coffers.
Another £115,000 came from drivers filmed in a lane on the Great Northern Road near the notorious Haudagain roundabout – one of 11 main cameras in force in the city.
The biggest hit however was the £443,000 raised at the controversial “bus gate” on Bedford Road – which has caught out more than 16,000 drivers since in came into force in August.
The last time the fines total breached the £1million mark was in the first year of the cameras’ operation in 2013/14 and it had been falling since – to only £700,000 in 2015/16.
Offenders are issued with a £60 charge, which is halved if paid within 14 days.
The RAC said bus lanes were rapidly becoming a new “cash bonanza” for councils and raising “frightening sums” from drivers.
Spokesman Simon Williams said: “Rather than just rubbing their hands together and taking the money, councils should ask questions as to why so many motorists are being caught.
“Most motorists are aware of the regulations and there is broad acceptance that they are there to aid traffic flow.
“For this reason, it is our strong suspicion they are either confused by the signs or simply haven’t seen them and suddenly find themselves driving in a bus lane.”
Aberdeen City Council transport spokesman Ross Grant said: “Aberdeen City Council would prefer that we received no money from bus lane fines as everybody would be observing the restrictions imposed.
“Bus lanes are important if we are to improve traffic flows, journey times and encourage people to use public transport as well as improving congestion and air quality in the city.
“All fines are used for sustainable transport solutions within the Council’s Local Transport Strategy such as Road maintenance upgrading our bus shelters and for investment in improving our traffic management information.”
SNP infrastructure spokesman Michael Hutchison said the bus gate had proved “more of a hindrance to those living near to it” and a promised review had not materialised.
“If these fines were working properly as a deterrent then the enforcement fund should be falling in value year on year.”
