§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department(a) how many bus lane cameras were established in the last year and (b) how many there are in total in (i) the Metropolitan police area and (ii) in England and Wales; and how many (A) successful and (B) unsuccessful prosecutions there were in (1) the last 12 months and (2) since the introduction of bus lanes. [132285]
§ Mr. Hill[holding answer 24 July 2000]: I have been asked to reply.
The London Bus Lane Enforcement Camera Project (introduced by the Traffic Director for London and now transferred to Transport for London in partnership with the Metropolitan police) uses video cameras, mounted either on buses or at the roadside, to enforce bus lane regulations in the Metropolitan police area. The project has reached the halfway stage with some 300 bus lanes being enforced by camera. 90 bus mounted and 19 fixed cameras had been installed by 1999, rising to 151 and 29 respectively by 31 March 2000. There are no bus lane enforcement cameras outside the Metropolitan police area.
Six thousand one hundred and seventy-five notices of intended prosecution were issued in the year to 30 June 2000, and 9,543 have been issued since this project started in December 1998. To date only one prosecution has been successfully challenged in a Magistrates court.
In addition, five London boroughs have been piloting a scheme using CCTV cameras, to enforce bus lane contraventions. In the financial year 1999–2000, the authorities issued approximately 57,000 penalty charge notices and warning letters. Of these, there were 314 appeals for adjudication, all of which were upheld.
Figures are not available for the number of prosecutions or fixed penalty notice offences issued by the police for bus lane offences outside London, nor for the 30 years that bus lanes have been operating.