Transport for London (TfL) and the capital’s boroughs issued nearly a million fines for moving traffic violations in a year, it has been reported, strengthening concerns about extending the enforcement powers beyond London.
However, the number of such fines issued by TfL actually fell.
The Evening Standard said London’s councils and TfL used special enforcement powers to fine motorists a record £127m a year for minor driving offences, including getting stuck in yellow box junctions, making banned turns or breaching cyclists-only restrictions.
Figures supplied by borough councils and Transport for London show that authorities issued 980,058 tickets for such offences in 2015/16 – nearly 50% more than the the previous year’s figure of 657,882.
However with 400,000 fewer parking tickets being issued, the total number of penalty tickets issued by the 33 boroughs and TfL – including for parking offences – remained broadly constant at about 4.7 million during the year.
Hammersmith and Fulham issued the most tickets for moving traffic violations, with 104,575, including from ‘hotspot’ locations such as Hammersmith roundabout and the Bagley’s Lane junction with New King’s Road in Fulham.
Earlier this month, as reported exclusively by Transport Network, senior Department of Transport official Tricia Hayes told councillors on the Local Government Association’s (LGA) environment, economy, housing and transport board, that the Government remains reluctant to extend enforcement to councils in England outside London, which the LGA has requested.
She said: ‘Ministers are looking at the amount of money being generated by individual box junctions in London and thinking is this a tool we want to make more widely available. It’s not where we are right now.’
TfL pointed out that the number of such fines it issued during the year fell to 115,210, from 125,607 the previous year.
Steve Burton, TfL’s director of enforcement and on-street operations, told Transport Network: 'We have continued to take an intelligence-led approach to enforcement at key locations on the capital’s busiest roads. The reduction in penalty charge notices reflects this approach and our focus on improving safety while keeping London working and growing.'
An LGA spokesman declined to comment on the new figures.
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