A car strays into the Riddiford Street bus lane in Wellington. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
A Wellington bus lane camera has racked up nearly a quarter of a million dollars in fines for drivers in just over a month.
On 9 December new fixed cameras began operating on Riddiford Street, Adelaide Road in Newtown and Chaytor Street in Karori. Prior to this, the lane was sometimes monitored manually by officers with cameras on tripods.
The Riddiford Street bus lane runs near the Wellington Regional Hospital.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Between 9 December and 17 January, 1475 tickets were issued for people driving on the lane which led to $221,250 worth of fines being dished out.
It was significantly more than the Adelaide Road bus lane nearby that raised $26,250 over the same period.
Felesese Pati who was fined $150 for using the bus lane told RNZ he believed people were driving on it unintentionally.
"To me it's like accidental and kind of confusing."
Pati believed the council could make it more obvious for people to know they could not drive on it.
A sign warns people about cameras in the area. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
A Wellington City Council spokesperson said drivers should always check signs for bus lane operating hours and whether it was a regular bus lane or a bus-only lane.
The person said all bus lanes were clearly marked with signs and green on-road markings.
The number of fines issued from all three cameras since the operation began. Photo: Supplied / Wellington City Council
Councillor Nureddin Abdurahman said he wanted to know how it was advertised to residents.
"A lot of people - they are not on social media, you don't reach them through the normal media channels so it would be interesting to find out how council reached out.
"I will be asking those questions."
Abdurahman said council staff needed to look at what was not working on Riddiford Street that was working on Adelaide Road.
AA spokesperson Dylan Thomsen said nationally they had seen bus lane enforcement result in consistently large amounts of fines.
"What this indicates is that there is a large number of drivers out there that don't actually know the rules about these lanes, or are not realising."
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Thomsen said the number of fines on Riddiford Street raised a red flag.
"It warrants the council taking a look at it and trying to get to the bottom of why there's so many more people being ticketed for this particular bus lane."
The council said it has reviewed the signage and it was comfortable it complied with the rules.
It said international research showed enforcement was a significant factor in changing driver behaviour, and this was demonstrated by the decline in infringements issued since the cameras were introduced in December last year.
Director of the Greater Auckland Transport website Matt Lowrie said the number of tickets being issued highlighted why enforcement was needed in the first place.
"If they [cars] are travelling more than a short distance in them they are delaying buses, they are delaying bus passengers."
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
