by David Spereall, local democracy reporter
The installation of 25 new bus lane cameras in Leeds is aimed at “maximising funds”, the city council has admitted.
Most of the cameras will be placed at various points across the city centre – and the A647 – to snap drivers who encroach on bus lanes or use any of Leeds’ new car-free bus gates.
The local authority said the cash generated from the £70 fines would be reinvested into the local transport network.
City Square, The Headrow and The Corn Exchange are among the areas where new cameras will be put up.
Drivers also face fines if they use the bus gate on York Street, while four will be put up along the A61, which runs down Leeds’ northern spine into the city centre.
A further two will be installed along the A647, which runs out to the west of the city from Armley Gyratory.
A council document revealing the plans said: “The anticipated benefits of using efficient enforcement cameras will maximise the available funding to create improvements to the Leeds transport network.”
It added: “Success will be measured by the effective enforcement of bus lane restrictions at the relevant locations.”
Bus gates, where cars are banned, have been phased in across the city centre over the last couple of years in a move the council says is geared towards cutting pollution and helping public transport.
But their introduction has proved controversial, with local taxi drivers among those complaining they’ve had the opposite effect.
In March, it was revealed that nearly 2,000 drivers had been slapped with fines for breaching the bus gates on Vicar Lane and City Square, following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the council.
The council document revealed the 25 cameras had originally been purchased to enforce Leeds’ clean air zone, which would have seen drivers of some vehicles charged to enter the city centre.
The clean air zone plan was dropped in 2020, however, and so the cameras are now being repurposed at a cost to the taxpayer of more than £200,000.
And there you go. Maximise funding. Breeding resentment.
LCC spend millions creating a cycle lane, then spend millions more creating a bus lane, which has done nothing but create frustration, delays, more pollution due to standing traffic and now want car owners to fund the mess they have created. Lets have CAR ONLY LANES THAT BUSES ARE NOT ALLLOWED TO USE, plus a traffic light system that gives cars a priority, Its only fair, as the buses will have kept moving for most of their journey. I have lived in Leeds for 64 years and never known such a useless council that wastes so much money and bleeds the people of Leeds dry, when times are so hard.
What are the council doing. They have spent so much on cycle lanes that less than 2 percent use. I wonder if they use the cycle lane ?. What a waste of a valuable recourse. People are starving but a cycle lane are needed more. Traffic is unbelievably bad in leeds. More pollution. Bad for disabled
People who can’t use private hire and have to pay for black and whites which are a lot more expensive to go in and out of town. Trade in leeds centre is suffering because no one wants to come to leeds because the roads are so confusing and fines on top. All Thanks to leeds city Council. Their think tank is doing overtime.
Traffic is absolute chaos in Leeds…..if only we had a good reliable bus service to ease congestion whereby people could leave their cars at home… l waited for the once an hour 508 Halifax bus only to find out it was cancelled. The once an hour 86 also didn’t turn up. It showed on the electronic monitor as due then just disappeared off the display. I phoned the bus info number but they didn’t know what had happened to it. They tried phoning the bus depot but there was no answer…. So what do us passengers do? Next time we have an appointment or just want to get out somewhere we take the car!!!!! Invest in a better transport service instead of all these hair brained schemes which are a complete waste of time and money……..but it’s keeping someone in a well paid job l suppose.
Why are Leeds Council so anti-motorists? For years they have provided car parks and improved the road system and now all they seem to want to do is deter motorists
.
Cycle lanes are a ‘doing the right thing ” joke. There are more bikes on footpaths than in these lanes.
They create and build cycle lanes next to roads with potholes in them but do nothing to repair these potholes, unbelievable!
When you go into Leeds city centre you are constantly having to avoid cyclists in pedestrianised areas and these are almost entirely fast food delivery cyclists. Why are they even allowed in pedestrian areas? Why aren’t the council doing something to protect pedestrians from the dangers these cyclists?
If I were to drive my car in a pedestrianised area then I’m sure
I would be prosecuted and fined but these cyclists appear to have carte blanche to intimidate and endanger pedestrians.
It’s about time the council got their act together and prioritised pedestrian safety in pedestrianised areas and on footpaths and stopped pandering to the unregulated cyclist lobby that provide no funds to the councils.coffers.
STOP DISCRIMINATING AGAINST CAR DRIVERS!
It’s getting really difficult working out how I can get my disabled mother in law into the city centre. One wrong turn it’s a fine.
Oh that lovely car park that is stanningley rd on a morning all the way from Armley back to the by pass past henconner lane. Rush hour on there starts around 7-30 and can last till 10am when part of the bus lane opens (that so many people don’t realise) .
The whole road from Armley jail to the by pass is just a joke Great planning LCC.
So basically it’s a cash cow revenue busting idea from the council and nothing to do with efficiency and traffic movement, by that I mean stopping the moving along without queues, which in turn is causing emissions stagnant in the congested areas.
I will never spend another penny in Leeds City centre. Hope the council get all the flack coming there way when shops go bust in the next few years. Labour council can’t even run Leeds. Imagine them running the country. It will be no better than what we have. Still screwing the working class.
Stanningley Road A647 is a joke now. More pollution from idling cars stuck in traffic than what the bus lane saves. Alternative is another car park that is Kirkstall Road.
All roads into the city center from west Leeds are car parks. when will LCC do something about this instead of making it worse? Why do we need so many pedestrian crossings and traffic lights on one stretch of road???