Luton council has said it will continue its red route trial after catching nearly 5,000 drivers stopping illegally.
Red routes create ‘no-stopping’ areas, albeit with limited exceptions, through either double red lines operating 24 hours a day or single red lines, restricting stopping at certain times.
Exceptions include taxis, private hire cars and drivers with blue badges.
The routes were introduced in Luton town centre in January this year and in Airport Way last November under an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order.
The council said that since implementation almost 5,000 contraventions have been captured by parking enforcement officers, and by CCTV cameras.
According to a report to councillors, 2,544 out of 4,799 penalty charge notices have been paid.
Following a decision by councillors at this week’s executive, the red route trial will be extended for a further six months. The council said it will consider whether the scheme becomes permanent no later than March 2020.
Laura Church, the council’s corporate director for place and infrastructure, said: ‘Red routes are an effective way to improve traffic flow, minimising obstruction, improving safety and air quality as well as help support public transport and the number of fines we have issued clearly shows that we take illegal and inconsiderate parking seriously.
‘Having the red routes as experimental orders has meant we can make minor changes so the restrictions best suit the local area and we have done this in the town centre by reviewing comments and talking to local businesses.
'By extending the comment period for both areas we will gain even more feedback before evaluating the pilot scheme again next year.’
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