AA blames city council for bus lane 'mess'

Photo / Sarah Ivey

The Automobile Association says "a systemic management failure is responsible for the mess that surrounds Auckland bus lanes".

"Motorists are rapidly losing confidence in the management and enforcement of Auckland's bus lanes," said AA Auckland transport spokesman Simon Lambourne.

"Local councils need to ensure they do not use little-publicised bus lane rule changes as a calculated opportunity to gather additional revenue for their parking operations under the auspices of enforcement," he said.

Last week, independent councillor Mark Donnelly produced budget documents showing Mayor John Banks and his Citizens & Ratepayers allies instructed officers to hire an extra 33 traffic wardens and infringement review officers to raise an additional $12 million over three years.

It was not done for safety or parking purposes, but to hold down rates, he said.

The extra traffic wardens have written another $10 million in fines over the past two financial years (see table), but there has been a sharp drop in the payment of fines, from $16.7 million to $12.7 million.

Several people have contacted the Herald suggesting the council paint a line in bus lanes at the 50m mark where cars can enter to turn so it would be easy for motorists to identify.

Mr Lambourne said the AA supported bus lanes, but the existing rule did not work, and the association had cautioned against its introduction when it was proposed.

"Motorists frequently need to use a bus lane to turn left or exit a road, and they may need to drive more than 50m in the bus lane to safely do so."

Mr Lambourne said the $150 fine was "outrageously disproportionate" with the offence.

Compounding the issue was the absence of a comprehensive communications campaign to explain the rule.

He said the AA would be writing to Transport Minister Steven Joyce seeking an urgent change to the rule, and to Mr Banks requesting revenue collected from bus lane enforcement be ring-fenced for road safety projects and not used to offset other council expenditure.