How bus lane fines work
Councils (and TfL in London) enforce bus lanes with fixed cameras. The registered keeper receives a PCN by post, usually with a photo. As with parking PCNs, paying within the discount window (14 days in most areas, 21 for many camera-issued notices, so check yours) halves the charge, and you have 28 days to pay or challenge. The appeal route is the same free, staged process: representations to the issuer, then the independent tribunal if rejected.
Always ask for the footage. You’re entitled to see the evidence: the full video, not just a still. Councils sometimes cancel rather than produce footage that doesn’t clearly show a contravention.
The grounds that win
- Unclear signs or worn road markings. A bus lane must be indicated by compliant signs at its start and at intervals, plus road markings. Faded paint, foliage over signs, or a missing hours plate can all sink the PCN. Go back and photograph the approach exactly as a driver sees it.
- You were forced in. Entering to pass an obstruction, because of roadworks or an accident, or to let an emergency vehicle through is a genuine defence, especially if the footage shows it.
- Brief, minimal entry. Clipping the lane for a moment while turning or merging is regularly cancelled on appeal, particularly where the lane entry point is poorly marked.
- Outside the hours of operation. Many bus lanes only operate at peak times. If the sign shows restricted hours and you drove there outside them, no contravention occurred.
- Not your vehicle. Misread plates and cloned plates happen. If the vehicle in the photo isn’t yours, or yours was demonstrably elsewhere, say so and ask for the full footage.
- Permitted vehicle. Taxis, motorbikes and cycles are allowed in many (not all) bus lanes, and the sign lists exactly who may use it.
The process
- Step 1: make representations to the council or TfL before the deadline on the notice (online form or post). Attach your photos and describe the circumstances precisely: date, time, lane, direction.
- Step 2: if you get a Notice of Rejection, appeal free to the independent tribunal named in it (London Tribunals for London, the Traffic Penalty Tribunal elsewhere). Adjudicators look hard at signage compliance, and it’s the most common reason bus lane PCNs fail.