Fewer drivers are passing though “bus gates” that were created four years ago but thousands are still ignoring or missing the blue signs on the A23 in the heart of Brighton.
Cameras in Marlborough Place, St George’s Place, York Place and St Peter’s Place film drivers driving along the western side of Valley Gardens – a stretch reserved for buses, taxis and local traffic.
Brighton and Hove City Council’s response to a “freedom of information request” by the Local Democracy Reporting Service said that 29,805 drivers passed through the four bus gates last year, down by a quarter from 41,707 in 2023.
The figures are a significant drop from previous years and work out at almost 82 a day.
If most cars pass through during a 10-hour working day, the figures would work out as more than one every eight minutes.
In 2021, the first year of operation, a driver was fined roughly every two minutes, dropping to every three minutes in 2022 and every six minutes in 2023.
The month with the highest number of fines last year was December, with a total of 3,630.
In Marlborough Place, 2,383 cars passed through the bus gate in December. The camera there caught the most drivers out of the four sites throughout the year.
York Place, which previously had the highest number of drivers going through the bus gate, recorded the second highest number, having hit a high of 6,486 drivers going through the gate in June 2023.
January last year was the record month for York Place in 2024 when 1,433 drivers went through the bus gate rather than turned up Trafalgar Street.
Labour councillor Trevor Muten, the council’s cabinet member for transport and parking, said that fewer fines were issued last year.
In previous years fines topped £2 million.
Councillor Muten said: “These bus gates were put in place to help improve traffic flow, safety and bus services – and the signage is compliant with national guidance.
“There is also additional signage in place to give drivers more advanced warning and, after listening to feedback, we have reviewed all the signage both within the bus gates and approaching the bus gates.
“The number of motorists receiving fines has reduced significantly. For example, in December 2024 there were nearly 3,000 less fixed penalty notices issued than in December 2023.
“Our signs are well placed to inform drivers about the bus gate and they can take reasonable steps to avoid entering these lanes.
“Those who are fined can, of course, appeal. Bus gates improve safety and help bus passengers be on time.”
There is a blue circle sign in the picture at the junction with Trafalgar St However, there isn’t one at the Marlborough Place junction ! ! So the council is deliberately trying to trick drivers . Who’d have thought it? I would question the legality of any fines issued for vehicles driving in the King & Queen part of the bus lane
There is. I looked.
Where is it?
You can use that stretch for access but then you have to turn right at the North Rd lights. It’s quite clearly signed just before the lights
You can’t drive a car past the K&Q without getting a fine
Yep, very clearly signed. Moreso then requirements, after complaints about not understanding what a bus gate is. You catch fines when you aren’t using it for access.
King and Queen side before the lights.
Which lights? I couldn’t see anything adjacent to the junction of Marlborough Place and Church St. If you go past this junction into Marlborough Place, you incur a fine
No you don’t. The road markings at the start of MArlborough Place state BUS. TAXI. ACCESS.
Immediately before the NORTH ROAD lights/junction, there’s a clear sign ‘Straight ahead’ BIG blue BUS LANE sign all other traffic – TURN RIGHT
Just look on street view. It’s not difficult.
Mike there are 4 signs. How can you defend people passing this junction or not see them?
1. Sign on a pole after the motorcycle bay.
2. Traffic light before North Road has “turn right arrow” except buses taxis cycles.
3. Blue sign on a pole on an island at the bottom of North Road.
4. Traffic light after North Road has “turn right arrow” except buses taxis cycles.
5. Writing on road “Bus Gate”, “Other Traffic Turn Right”.
But no blue sign at the junction of Marlborough Place and Church St
You don’t need a sign there as you are legally allowed drive through that section!!
The curse of Muten strikes again!! Of course less people are being fined,its winter !!
The tourists follow the signs the locals dont
Of course the number was highest last December. Chuch street was closed due to road works,and traffic was re-directed along Malborough Place. So more drivers being caught in the bus gate.
But it waas 25% reduction in 2024 compared to 2023 and that’s the trend that matters not what happens in a few individual months. For December it could have been a spike due to people coming to visit for christmas events and so on.
What is telling though is that a significant number of drivers are clearly not paying attention to the road signs!
I recall when this first came up as a story that a lot of people were speaking to the effect that they didn’t know what a bus gate was.
Inattention, and perhaps a lack of education as well.
Yes i got a ticket because the diversion sign directed me right along the stein because church rd was blocked off due to roadworks… Because I had been away at Christmas and into January i didn’t get the ticket til late and didn’t have enough time to appeal it…. I would not have taken this route and subsequently had to i drive through the bus gate, (i was going to trafalgar st, normally I would go down north rd and turn left jydt missing the bus gate)… I wonder how many people got stung by following that diversion sign at the bottom of church rd?
Mitten is a member of a cycling activist group and has a thinly veiled anti-car agenda. He should not be let within a million miles of a transport committee but this is local politics in Brighton, so do not expect capable officials with integrity.
Muten doesn’t really have anything to do with this one. Although, your dislike for him has been made clear enough over the years.
He is the cabinet member for Transport, Parking and Public Realm. There are also several quotes in the article specifically from him on the issues at hand. Even a council apologist like you cannot distance him from this one.
And still doesn’t have anything to do with poor quality drivers getting fined for being poor quality drivers, does it? Muten isn’t driving the cars. Poorly parroted and spammed ire does nothing useful, more counterproductive than anything else. You’re a smart lad, you know this.
Sarah – please can you tell me exactly where the blue sign is at the Marlborough Place junction. Thanks
Its attached to the traffic signal at the junction. Its a white arrow pointing right on a blue background meaning one way and says except buses taxis and cycles
I hope you don’t have a driving license Mike..
You can enter Marlborough place for access and travel as far as North Road where you must turn right unless your a Bus Taxi or Cycle. Plenty of signs and markings.
Maybe locals learn to stay out of these forbidden lanes; however, these are touri$t trap$! Any council, raking in millions of pounds, yearly, must realize they are fleecing the very people who came to spend money there. How scammish can you get?! What do tourist learn? Steer clear of these fraudsters?
I have just fallen foul of this cash-grab. PCN was issued for entering the bus gate at 22:53 on May the 25th, while following diversion signs around extensive roadworks which were taking place at the time. (Grand Parade?) I am not at all local to Brighton and was following a satnav to leave Brighton and head north. I appealed on the basis of inadequate signage – an ‘advance’ sign (approximately three car lengths before the offending entrance to the bus gate) was obscured by trees, and the painted road markings are worn out. Adhering to the 20mph limit in force one still only sees the second blue sign as you now enter the bus gate, ie too late. (ker-chinng) This without even taking into account the amount of electric light from surrounding shops which renders the small white ‘advance’ sign unreasonably difficult to acknowledge in time, at night. Within the last hour today I attended the appeals hearing. (conference telephone call) The legal adjudicator person was very efficient and explained things well. I was allowed to make my case as to why the signage was (is) inadequate, and a representative from Brighton council was present but said nothing until after judgement. The adjudicator appeared to accept my assertions, yet the penalty was upheld because the council have followed the bare-minimum legal requirements for signage, and even though they are unclear and in places worn out, this is apparently sufficient to fine drivers who unwittingly enter the gate. Brief research around online articles such as this website – and even the BBC news page as recently as the 17th March 2025 – show hundreds of thousands of PCN’s have been issued for the four Brighton bus gates, and continue to be. That would be an unfeasibly high number of deliberate lawbreakers, and so the clearly contentious scheme is an intentional and unreasonable approach to revenue-generation. ( see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2ljrdww4ego ) I will not travel to Brighton and spend/consume local services and leisure or cultural offerings again while this continues. I will also tell everyone i know to consider doing same.
I just don’t go to Brighton any more having not understood what a bus gate was without an actual physical gate. Pity. I liked Brighton.