A busy bus lane coming into Brighton is to be enforced for the first time since it was installed in 2008.
East Sussex County Council started sending warning letters to motorists using the lane on the A259 in Telscombe Cliffs this week.
It is using digital cameras to enforce the rules, which are in force 24 hours a day.
After the warning period is over – which the council says will only run for “a short period of time” – anyone caught will be fined £70.
Councillor Claire Dowling, the county council’s lead member for transport said: “The misuse of bus lanes affects journey times for passengers and the reliability of public transport, as well as being frustrating for those motorists who follow the regulations.
“Enforcing these bus lanes on such a key coastal route will help to ease congestion and improve air quality by encouraging people to make use of the more reliable bus services.”
The bus lane runs along the South Coast Road from the junction of Ambleside Avenue to the border of Brighton and Hove.
It is mostly used by services run by Brighton and Hove Buses, including the 12, 12X, 13 and 13X.
Commercial director Nick Hill said: “We’re glad to see local bus lanes being enforced.
“Local bus lanes help us provide even better services for the local community, and enforcing them helps us keep them clear for our drivers and keep our buses reliable.”
The westbound bus lane stops briefly through Saltdean but starts again between Saltdean and Rottingdean. That stretch of road is overseen by Brighton and Hove City Council, and is enforced.
The council says revenue from Penalty Charge Notices will be used to cover the cost of the installation, maintenance and running of the scheme. Any surplus income from fines will be reinvested in local transport schemes.
Pure profiteering. The only time I ever see this lane used except for buses and taxi’s is when there is an obstruction in the road which needs to be overtaken.
We can all stop their profiteering by not driving in the bus lane.
Good grief.
Like all motoring fines – speeding, parking etc – they are easily avoidable,
Take some responsibility for sticking to the law and they’d be no fines!
Just won the award for ‘most dumb comment of the week’ congratulations 🎉
Don’t want a bus lane fine, don’t drive in the bus lane, don’t want a parking ticket, buy a parking voucher, don’t want a smelly house, put rubbish in the dust bin. All really simple stuff here.
So, enforcing a clearly signed, legally mandated bus lane is ‘profiteering’? That’s not how public policy – or logic -works.
There is no required definitive blue sign to signify the start of the ‘bus gate’ in Marlborough Place by the King & Queen, yet bhcc will fine motorists for entering this. There is a ‘local’ traffic only sign together with rather faded paint signs on the road. As such the ‘bus gate’ signs do not comply with law . Bhcc is using this as a cash cow.
The signs indicate you can ‘access’ Marlborough Place, you can not get a fine in that road, unless you proceed past North Road, BLUE Mandatory signs tell the observant that unless you are a BUS TAXI or CYCLE you ‘MUST’ turn RIGHT at the traffic lights. Once you go ahead the camera will get you.
The various signs in that road are legal, open your eyes and look again…
Incorrect. You can legally turn left at the bottom of North Road and continue as far as Trafalgar Road.
Open your eyes and look again
To Tom Harding 3 hours ago
Read the post AGAIN We’re talking about passing the King and Queen, not coming down NORTH ROAD.
If you pass the K&Q you must turn right at the traffic lights.
LEARN TO READ TOM.
Absolutely just a cash cow so they waste more money on white elephants
To be honest, you make a valid point but there is another point to make here.
This lane went in, in 2008 and not enforced, why the sudden decision to enforce it?
As far as I am aware, this lane isn’t one where traffic violates the rules and regulations, I’ve never seen any private vehicle in that lane unless it’s been forced by road works or road blockage.
In this particular case ‘a money maker’ could be the reason but as I’ve said above, this lane not known for being flouted and leads me on to think the Bus Company might be using it as an excuse for a poor service.
I’ve had dealings with Commercial director Nick Hill, who I’ve spoken to a few times. Sadly he comes across as being out of his depth answering simple questions and how he is a director is anyone’s guess. At a local meeting said person was asked, why there hadn’t been a number 48 bus for over an hour that is supposed every 20 minutes but in the same period three 49’s were running together two had few passengers on, couldn’t the company have taken one of them off and cover a missing 48.
The reply was unbelievable, “Driver shortage and sickness has impacted the 48 route and there were no drivers available, the 49 service is a trunk service that runs every 10-12 minutes and carries a high number of passengers, taking one off would impact the service and mean passenger overloading and have a impact on service reliability and may mean passenger disruption and being left behind.
So he thinks having no bus on one route is better than taking a bus off another route that will have a slight impact.
I’ve seen many cars using this in the morning rush hour. It happens every day. It’s so frustrating to be sitting in the 15 minute queue from Telscombe to Saltdean and seeing those arrogant idiots who think rules don’t apply to them go past. About time it was enforced.
If no one other than buses and taxies uses the bus lane, how is it profiteering?
A question East Sussexx County Council need to answer is why they are only startign enforcement now when the lane has been in place for more than 15 years/
It’s a fair question. Like with many things, enforcement often lags behind installation due to funding constraints. I imagine rising traffic levels have raised enough concerns about compliance to make enforcement worthwhile now.
So as a person that was born and bred in Kemptown in Brighton, I know the area very well and all the changes over the years and when they installed the bus lanes it was very controversial back then, but I have a friend Who is a former Brighton and Hove bus driver that basically states it’s a waste of money, it hasn’t made any difference so basically driving from New Haven to. Rottingdean is always a car park so the buses get caught up in that flow of traffic. It’s not until they get to the roundabout at Rottingdean by the blind veterans Association that you have the bus lane then you have a quick passage into Brighton to the marina then if you’re still driving along Marine Parade, you get caught up in traffic right down to the palace, pier and beyond. That’s never going to change now they’re insistent on putting a bus lane on Marine Parade from the palace pier up to Lower Rock Gardens, I believe. possibly a bit longer to Eversfield Place but this is another waste of money, because what is it going to do it’s gonna cause more congestion which is in the long run going to back the traffic up further down the road which is then going to cause the buses to get into another flow of traffic which isn’t going to work this new road layout. They’ve predicted for the old style by the Fountain which is a better use, but they still haven’t thought about the people coming into Brighton via Patcham. This is the main road into the town and it’s going to get heavily congested. Even more. The buses are going to get caught up in that traffic so the bus lane they’ve installed. on that route, it’s almost useless as well, Forget introducing bus lines and wasting taxpayers money on stupid ridiculous things that won’t work look at the traffic in general and work out how to reduce that easy option is to offer an alternative route that doesn’t take you directly down to the seafront have better slightly out of town, car parking that is reasonably priced that is operational 24/7 all year round, but has 24/7 park-and-ride so a bus or coach that ferries people in and out of Brighton and Hove so people are not reliant on getting into the centre of Brighton I don’t get me started on the waste of money they have done to Madeira Drive by moving the cycle lane off the pavement onto the road. That is ridiculous and what they’re doing now to London Road towards Preston Park by putting a ridiculous cycle lane in that is narrowing the road that is causing traffic congestion and whose ridiculous idea is this having the bus stop with a cycle lane going through the middle so you have a bus shelter with the cycle lane and then a piece of pavement where you walk onto get onto the bus now how it’s been designed, you have a raised pavement with the bus shelter you don’t have a curb with the cycle lane. Then you have another curb with a raised platform to get onto the bus for someone that is not a very good walker. it’s not good, also someone that may be partially sighted or blind and I know exactly what’s gonna happen and it’s already happened with another piece of road in Brighton. There’s gonna be an accident someone’s gonna come rushing through on a pushbike and knock someone over straight away. Are you can’t blame the cyclist if they’re on the cycle lane Preston Circus I think not long after the rollout was changed slightly there. Someone got knocked off her bike by a car because of the ridiculous why they built the cycle lane down there but we’ve all got our views and no one seems to listen to them.
Mate relax
So what your saying is they need to make the bus lane go all the way along the road then?
I am a Brightonian but cannot place Eversfield Place. I think that bus lanes are positive but not the end solution. They are a piece of the jigsaw that builds the basis for the bigger picture.
Bus lanes aren’t a waste of money when enforced properly. They keep buses moving through traffic, which benefits thousands of people, not just a few drivers. If they’re blocked by cars, they can’t do their job, which is why enforcement matters. Park-and-ride is a good suggestion, but it still needs reliable bus routes, which again means proper infrastructure and investment.
The design of some cycle lanes does need improving, especially for accessibility. In my opinion, we should fix poor layouts, not abandon the idea.
completely agree
I thought these bus lanes were for buses only anyway? Even so, they appear to be a nice revenue raiser for councils.
You can’t even drive into one without a fine or if overtaking a slow moving or a broken down vehicle.
The political class created the riush rush rush society we live in, where people are racing everywhere and anywhere all the time., yet they then fine people who just cut into these lanes.
It’s nothing but revenue raisimg ruse at the usual target.
They are not just for buses, as indicated by the road signs.
Just wondering what happens like before, emergency roadworks or RTC happens, which makes the none bus lanes close, which means you have to drive in the bus lanes, will the council stop issue the fines or will they issue the fines, to get back the money they written off like with i360?
The same logical thing that happens whenever exceptional circumstances happen?
Didn’t read the article did you?
This new enforcement area is covered by West Sussex County Council and not B&H
And even if it was not one penny of the fines can be used for the i360 debt.
It is earmarked – by law – for transport improvements
Another cash cow for the council
Let’s hope that enough drivers are daft enough to break the rules and enter the bus lanes. After all, it’s our money as tax payers that are paying to install, maintain and operate the enforcement cameras and it’d be good if there are enough fines to cover the costs.
I imagine a cost benefit has been worked out for this, cameras are expensive.
I remember driving to work from Southwick seafront all the way to Peacehaven in 20 min.The Council decided to narrow the A259 and introduced a bus lane and more traffic lights.Today its a nightmare journey.Wasnt necessary.
Absolutely crap as usual
What, no cycle lane?!
So I’ve been using the road correctly for no reason?! 🤣🤣
All those days feeling like royalty missed 🥲
What about all the Drivers that come out of Telscombe Cliffs way to turn to Brighton and get caught up in the Yellow Box at the bottom
.Are they now going to get fined , unfortunately they are stuck there as can’t get through as everyone else is using the side road to Join A259 and cars are simply just stuck .As are the Buses coming from the Ambleside Avenue . The whole road is a joke
You shouldn’t enter a box junction without a clear exit.
Now enforce the busses to use the traffic light that is on the scr by the Texaco garage on the buslane instead of them swerving into the lane that are meant for the rest of the traffic at the last minute as their lanes lights are red. They often swerve in and out and stop the flow of traffic for us car drivers.
So where there are bus lanes busses they should be forced to use them is my opinion.
I only ever see silver Mercedes driving in it so they seem pretty happy to pay the convenience charge, uh I mean fine.
Multiple fines can lead to criminal charges.
At the next summit along the 259 I was fined for momentarily avoiding someone pulling up in front of me to suddenly turn right without indicating. £70 I could ill afford. Had I not pulled very briefly into the bus lane there would have been a pile up. The photo i was sent plainly showed I was haeding back into the car lane. Appeal? No – not with the risk of the full fine if you lose.
So you were too close to a vehicle in front of you and were going too fast for the current conditions, as you admitted by your need to swerve.
And it’s your fault for not appealling. If you felt you had a good excuse, you would do so. Sorry, I don’t buy your reasoning here. But I’m glad you’re not hurt, attended enough RTCs to know they can be messy.
Selfish nd ignorant people break laws nd think they are above the law nd normal people .take their cars away not fine them is a better result