Cameras and extended hours to stop bus lane cheats

Saturday August 4th 2018

Lothian 49 Bus in Dalkeith

Written by David Bol, Local Democracy Reporter

Cameras could be installed to stop bus lane cheats – as operating hours could return to seven days a week.

The City of Edinburgh Council want to speed up journeys for public transport across the Capital – amid heavy congestion in certain parts of the city.

The move seeks to positively impact Midlothian commuters who travel by bus, by reducing their travel time.

The council’s Transport and Environment Committee will consider installing more automatic cameras across the Capital to ensure that motorists keep out of bus lanes, while the public transport routes could operate from 7am to 7pm, seven days a week.

The council currently has bus lane cameras on Calder Road, London Road, Prestonfield Avenue, The Jewel, Little France Drive, Kirkland Park Street and The Shore. Since being introduced in 2012, the bus lane cameras have tallied up £4.4 million in fines.

Currently, some bus lanes in the city only operate during peak times, but bus operators have told the council they would like the hours to be extended to speed up journey times.

A report to be considered by the Transport and Environment Committee says: “There are ongoing discussions with bus operators to identify locations where more automatic camera enforcement should be deployed to improve the efficiency of bus lanes.

“Bus operators’ preference would be a return to all day bus lanes and hours of operation should be standardised at am – 7pm seven days a week.

“Consideration would need to be given on what facilities could be provided to support businesses, whilst still providing increased priority for bus operators.”

Transport Convener Cllr Lesley Macinnes said: “Clearly congestion is an issue at the moment and will continue to be one until we tackle it.

“Bus journey times have lengthened and some of it is to do with congestion”

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