Lendal bridge without traffic
The Council claims “only 2 appeals have been successfully contested” against the charge although it admits that many appeals had “not been contested by the Council.
The full response to the question posed can be read here.
60,414 drivers have been issued with penalty notices for driving on Lendal Bridge and Coppergate since new restrictions were introduced in August.Of these 46,323 were caught by cameras on Lendal Bridge while 14,091 were photographed on Coppergate.
The numbers being caught in both locations increased towards the end of January.
The complete figures can be downloaded by clicking here.
Meanwhile the media are reporting that the Council has received £1.3 in fine income.
As suggested on this site some months ago, it appears that the Council lacks the resources – and perhaps the will – to resist many of the appeals that have been lodged.
The Lendal Bridge 5 monthly monitoring report has also now been published. Click here.
With less traffic in January, Park and Ride buses show little change in their journey times.
Traffic volumes are, however, up on Foss Islands Road, Water End, Shipton Road and Fulford Road.
The Lendal Bridge trial is scheduled to conclude at the end of February.
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Labour Councillors agreed tonight (Tuesday) to extend the use of the ANPR cameras to other routes including bus lanes.
It expects to bring in an additional £150,000 a year in fine income.
The Council have now published an updated report on their web site assessing the impact of the Lendal Bridge closure.
Traffic on Lendal bridge after closure
Any hopes that the information would be objective and impartial are quickly dispelled as the report resorts to sloganising “York remains very much open for business” whatever that is supposed to mean.
The figures for Park and Ride show small increases in the number of passengers (following a trend evident for the last 6 years over which passenger growth on the services has been sustained each year).
Some services show small reductions in journey times since the Lendal Bridge restrictions were introduced. Others – like the link to the Designer Centre – show increases in journey times.
This rather confirms what is so obvious to many – that traffic congestion, on alternative routes to Lendal, is continuing to increase.
No information is provided on normal “stage carriage” bus services.
There was a 10% increase in traffic volumes on Clifton bridge when comparing November 2013 with the same month last year. Increased traffic volumes on Foss Islands Road are also evident.
The report makes no attempt to assess increases in journey times or costs for drivers. There is no information about pollution levels
The Council has also updated the tables showing the number of Penalty Charge Notices issued to drivers on Lendal Bridge and in Coppergate.
The numbers fined on Coppergate doubled to 595 during the St Nicholas Fayre week.
The number issued on Lendal Bridge is still regularly in excess of 2500 a week.
70% of the tickets issued are to visitors to the City
| Lendal: | |
| 02-08 Sept (4 days enforcement, commenced Wednesday | 1675 |
| 09-15 Sept 2015 (6 days enforcement, because of the Skyride event) | 2015 |
| 16-23 Sept (5 days enforcement, cameras updating) | 1766 |
| 23 – 29 September 2,762 PCNs issued (6 days enforcement) | 2762 |
| 30 Sep – 6 October 1,885 PCNs issued (5 days enforcement) | 1885 |
| 7 – 13 October 2,487 PCNs issued (5 days enforcement) | 2487 |
| 14 – 20 October 3,640 PCNs issued | 3640 |
| 21 – 27 October 3,879 PCNs issued | 3879 |
| 28 Oct – 3 November 4,098PCNs issued | 4098 |
| 4 – 10 November 1,921 PCNs issued | 1921 |
| 11 – 17 November 3,172 PCNs issued | 3172 |
| 18 – 24 November 2,801 PCNs issued | 2801 |
| 25 Nov – 2 December 2,553 PCNs issued | 2553 |
| Coppergate: | |
| 15-18 August (4 days enforcement, commenced Wednesday) | 1085 |
| 19-25 August | 1741 |
| 26-01 Sept | 880 |
| 02-08 Septd | 850 |
| 09-15 Sept (6 days enforcement, because of the Skyride event) | 841 |
| 16-22 Sept (5 days enforcement, cameras updating and gas works commenced) | 324 |
| 23 – 29 September 405 PCNs issued (6 days enforcement) | 405 |
| 30 Sep – 6 October 345 PCNs issued (5 days enforcement) | 345 |
| 7 – 13 October 593 PCNs issued (5 days enforcement) | 593 |
| 14 – 20 October 869 PCNs issued | 869 |
| 21 – 27 October 755 PCNs issued (6 days enforcement) | 755 |
| 28 Oct – 3 November 416PCNs issued | 416 |
| 4 Nov – 10 November 146 PCNs issued # | 146 |
| 11 – 17 November 240 PCNs issued # | 240 |
| 18 – 24 November 251 PCNs issued # | 251 |
| 25 Nov – 2 December 595 PCNs issued | 595 |
– Of all PCNs reviewed, up to Monday 8 December 2013, there was a 30:70 split on YO and non-YO postcodes.
# – only one camera operational.
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Of course, the amount actually received by the Council will be less than half that figure as many will pay early to get a £30 discount, while others will successfully challenge the fine.
It is still a damming indictment of the adequacy of the signage used to advertise the restrictions.
Fines levied by week. Click to enlarge
The figures are admitted in the Councils latest update report on the effects of the new traffic restrictions.
The report is otherwise remarkable for what it hides rather than what it reveals.
There are no footfall (shopper) statistics included, accident and air quality figures are missing, only the effects of the closure on park and ride bus services are reported (journey times up in October) while the normal stage carriage services (which have been hit by increased traffic congestion in other parts of the City) are omitted.
No information on journey times for drivers is provided.
The Council only admits that traffic volumes on Foss Islands Road and Clifton Bridge are up on the same period last year.
The report, such as it is, can be read by clicking here.
This will come as little consolation to the increasing number of visitors to the City who are being caught out by bus lane cameras.
Many are using this web site to vent their concerns.
Some say that they will never return to York.
Others are just bemused by the poor signage of the restrictions.
The Council has still not published its assessment report for October
The Council says that, “for technical reasons the cameras on Lendal Bridge were not operational in one or both directions on the following dates”.
The Council has belatedly published the answers to questions tabled last week about the fine income that they are generating through the use of ANPR ”invisible policemen” cameras in the City.
The Council is paying its Northampton based contractors £7 to process each Penalty Charge Notice (PCN).
The Council says
Lendal
02-08 Sept – 1675 PCNs issued (4 days enforcement, commenced Wed)
09-15 Sept – 2015 PCNs issued (6 days enforcement, because of the Skyride event)
16-22 Sept – 1766 PCNs issued (5 days enforcement, cameras updating)
TOTAL 5456
Accurate actual income into CYC is not available at this stage due to the short time the system has been operational. Based on £23 / PCN (the £30 ‘early payment’ value of the PCN minus the processing and operating costs), this would equate to a potential income of £125,500.
Coppergate
15-18 August -1085 PCNs issued (4 days enforcement, commenced Wednesday)
19-25 August – 1741 PCNs issued
26-01 Sept – 880 PCNs issued
02-08 Sept – 850 PCNs issued
09-15 Sept – 841 PCNs issued (6 days enforcement, because of the Skyride event)
16-22 Sept -324 PCNs issued (5 days enforcement, cameras updating and gas works commenced)
TOTAL 5721
Accurate actual income into CYC is not available at this stage due to the short time the system has been operational. Based on £23 / PCN (the £30 ‘early payment’ value of the PCN minus the processing and operating costs). This would equate to a potential income of £131,500.
The Council have belatedly published details of the numbers of drivers who have fallen foul of the number plate recognition cameras installed on Lendal Bridge and in Coppergate.
In total during August and September 11,177 drivers were sent penalty charge notices.
This would generate over £600,000 in income for the Council in just 5 weeks.
click to enlarge
The penalty charge notice numbers are divided fairly evenly between Coppergate and Lendal Bridge although the figures for the latter are only for 3 weeks.
But it is a staggering amount and confirmation of the inadequacy of the signage marking the new restrictions on Coppergate as well as the trial day time closure of Lendal Bridge to private motorists.
The data is contained in an obscure part of the Council web site and has not been officially publicised.
Apparently the web page will be updated monthly.
The figures show no sign of a downturn in the numbers of motorists being caught, so the Councils annual income from the cameras is likely to be several millions each year.
It is much more than would have been raised by putting a congestion charge on the bridge and they do suggest that “road pricing” is what the Labour Council really wants to introduce next.
The publication of the information follows the tabling of a question on the subject at last weeks Council meeting by a Liberal Democrat Councillor.
Detailed information, on the reductions in the number of shoppers accessing the City centre, is still awaited.
A report on the first month of the trial, previously published by the Council, admitted that there had been no significant improvement in journey times for buses – one of the major objectives of the trial
A visitor from Denmark faced a £66 charge after falling foul of the Coppergate ANPR cameras.
He quickly paid the fine to gain the £30 discount but later received a supplementary bill from the hire car firm that he had used. They wanted another £30 plus £6 VAT to cover the costs of processing an enquiry about who was driving their vehicle.
The tourist explains that on a dark and wet evening in September he and his family decided to use their hire car to get from their guest house to a City centre restaurant.
Fine notice
They were caught on camera at 18:50pm – just 10 minutes before the restriction ends.
They did not see the signs (the new hours of operation of the restriction are in a small font) and – with some justification – feel that the invisible policeman (ANPR cameras) method of enforcement is unfair.
He suggests a rising barrier be used.
Others have argued for an amnesty for “first offenders”
Visitors see the use of ANPR cameras as a money making trap which will damage the City’s reputation.
In a separate development, The Council Leader last night accepted that the numbers of people accessing the City centre is in decline.
He was asked to publish footfall figures for the last couple of months and compare them with 12 months ago.
He hasn’t done so yet but he claimed to have put on line graphs which show City centre visitors numbers falling over an extended period of time.
Heavy handed enforcement of traffic restrictions – like the above – can only accelerate that decline.
NB. Questions on the amount that the Council has collected in fine revenue from ANPR cameras in Coppergate and Lendal Bridge were not answered at last night’s Council meeting.
The responsible Labour Councillor is being given a week to respond in writing before a Freedom of Information request is submitted.
Questions tabled for the Council meeting on 10th October will finally reveal the scale of fine income that the Council is now getting from drivers who use Lendal Bridge and Coppergate during restricted hours.
Unconfirmed figures, leaked by the Council, suggest that over 1000 drivers a WEEK are still using Lendal Bridge during restricted hours.
If everyone who received a penalty notice paid £60 then it would add a whopping £3 million to Council coffers plus income from Coppergate.
A private briefing to journalists accepts the 1000 figure but says that many drivers will successfully appeal while others will quickly stomp up the £30 discounted rate.
Questions on Lendal Bridge and Coppergate tabled for Council meeting on 10th October click to enlarge
Officials admit that bus reliability has not changed much since the Lendal Bridge closure while traffic congestion is much as expected.
The briefing comes from the same team that has yet to answer questions tabled during a “twitter debate” in August. They promised then to answer all submitted questions and add them to the Councils web site.
They have singularly failed to do so.
So embarrassed are Council Leaders, with the scale of the contraventions, that they are floating the idea of an amnesty for first offenders.
A kind of yellow card system.
But there will be nowhere to hide on 10th October.
Not only will the scale of the PR disaster become apparent but the impact on City centre trade will be revealed.
A question to the Council Leader, from Liberal Democrat Group Leader Keith Aspden, asks for daily numbers from the Councils City centre footfall cameras since the beginning of August.
The improving economic situation suggests that there should be a major increase compared to last year.
We will see
A list of all the questions submitted for the meeting can be seen here.
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The Council has published a list of the makes of car that have attracted fines for parking outside allotted bays.
The list covers the last 5 years.
click for larger list
Top of the list are Ford owners, followed by Vauxhall and Volkeswagon.
In 2012/13 Mercedes tied with Volkswagon for third place
NB. At the end of 2012, the most common car in Great Britain was the Ford Focus (1.4 million) followed by the Ford Fiesta (1.3 million), a situation unchanged on the year before.
In total, Ford accounted for 15 per cent of all cars and Vauxhall for 12 per cent.
The top five marques (Ford, Vauxhall, Volkswagen, Peugeot and Renault) accounted for 48 per cent of all licensed cars in Great Britain.
The next ten (Toyota, BMW, Nissan, Citroen, Honda, Mercedes, Audi, Fiat, Rover and Volvo) take the total to over 81 per cent.
There were over 1 million cars licensed from each of the top ten marques (Ford to Honda).