A Wellington bus lane camera has racked up nearly a quarter of a million dollars in fines for drivers in just over a month.
On December 9, new fixed cameras began operating on Riddiford Street, Adelaide Road in Newtown and Chaytor St in Karori. Prior to this, the lane was sometimes monitored manually by officers with cameras on tripods.
The Riddiford St bus lane runs near the Wellington Regional Hospital.
Between December 9 and January 17, a total of 1475 tickets were issued for people driving on the lane which led to $221,250 worth of fines.
Pati believed the council could make it clearer that people could not drive on it.
A Wellington City Council spokesperson said drivers should always check signs for bus lane operating hours and whether it was a regular bus lane or a bus-only lane.
The person said all bus lanes were clearly marked with signs and green on-road markings.
A bus lane sign at Riddiford St, Wellington. Photo / Samuel Rillstone / RNZ
Councillor Nureddin Abdurahman said he wanted to know how it was advertised to residents.
“A lot of people - they are not on social media. You don’t reach them through the normal media channels so it would be interesting to find out how council reached out.
“I will be asking those questions.”
Abdurahman said council staff needed to look at what was not working on Riddiford Street that was working on Adelaide Road.
A sign warns people about cameras in the area. Photo / Samuel Rillstone, RNZ
Automobile Association spokesperson Dylan Thomsen said nationally the AA had seen bus lane enforcement result in consistently large amounts of fines.
“What this indicates is that there is a large number of drivers out there that don’t actually know the rules about these lanes or are not realising.”
Thomsen said the number of fines on Riddiford Street raised a red flag.
“It warrants the council taking a look at it and trying to get to the bottom of why there’s so many more people being ticketed for this particular bus lane.”
The council said it has reviewed the signage and it was comfortable that it complied with the rules.
It said international research showed enforcement was a significant factor in changing driver behaviour, and this was demonstrated by the decline in infringements issued since the cameras were introduced in December last year.
Director of the Greater Auckland Transport website Matt Lowrie said the number of tickets being issued highlighted why enforcement was needed in the first place.
“If they [cars] are travelling more than a short distance in them they are delaying buses, they are delaying bus passengers.”
