Council chiefs have defended the way they have implemented a controversial bus gate on a road in Bristol city centre, which is on course to catch the most motorists of any camera in the country, despite a judge at a tribunal saying the signage was not ‘compromised’.
At the start of August, Bristol Live revealed that Bristol City Council had lost another key case in the Traffic Penalty Tribunal - this time over the signage for drivers who turn onto Cumberland Road and into the bus gate that was installed there just under a year ago.
Now, the council said it has improved the signage at the spot, and said they were ‘pleased to have seen a significant drop’ in the number of drivers getting caught. The bus gate has netted the council more than £1 million in fines since they started issuing penalties at the start of 2024.
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The case the council lost at the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, which has led to calls for the council to refund thousands of drivers’ fines, revolved around the warning signs for drivers turning left from Gas Ferry Road, where the SS Great Britain and Aardman Animations are based, onto Cumberland Road and straight into the new bus gate.
The gate only allows taxis, bikes, buses and authorised vehicles through - private cars are banned and will be fined if they head east along Cumberland Road towards the Bedminster Bridge roundabout.
Bus gate campaigner and motorist Matt Sanders lodged an appeal on behalf of a friend who was one of thousands who turned left at that junction and were caught driving through the bus gate, and the Traffic Penalty Tribunal adjudicator agreed, saying the signage was ‘compromised’ and couldn’t be adequately seen by drivers at night.
The TPT adjudicator didn’t make a judgement on any of the other signage, and Bristol City Council said it was confident all the signs were compliant and legal. Bristol Live asked council highway chiefs about the TPT ruling, and a spokesperson for the council declined to mention it at all in the response.
“The signage installed surrounding the Cumberland Road Bus Gate is compliant with the latest guidance and legislation from the Department for Transport, with the number of signs exceeding the requirements set out by the Traffic Signs Manual,” the council spokesperson claimed.
“Before the formal enforcement took place, there was a grace period of six weeks during which warning letters were sent to all drivers who used the bus gate, to make them aware of the new bus gate and that in the future drivers going through it will receive fines.
“We have continued to listen to drivers' feedback and since the bus gate’s installation we have introduced an electronic sign and when the weather improved, red surfacing was also installed to further highlight the bus gate. The bus gate has not been put in place to generate income, it is there to help reduce air pollution and increase the number of bus travel options for residents.
“We are pleased to have seen a significant drop in PCNs related to the Cumberland Road Bus Gate since its introduction and are confident that this number will continue to reduce. Drivers can find details of bus gates in Bristol on the council’s website,” she added.
So many visitors to the SS Great Britain were complaining that they were getting caught driving back out of Gas Ferry Road the same way they came in, that the SS Great Britain installed its own warning signs, but the council maintained that - despite the TPT ruling - the signs were good enough.
The council said it has installed a ‘descriptive sign’ telling all vehicles to turn right, and a spokesperson pointed out that any driver reaching the junction would be able to see the bus gate immediately to their left.
“There is a limit to what additional measures the council could put in place over and above what had already been implemented,” the council spokesperson said. “Any refunds or leniency are considered on a case by case basis.”
Earlier this year, a Traffic Penalty Tribunal adjudicator criticised Bristol City Council’s inadequate signage warning motorists of the Clean Air Zone on the A4 into the city from Avonmouth, and ruled in a driver’s favour, ordering the council to scrap the fine it issued to him.
Bristol Live has asked repeatedly for a council response over questions on the implications of that ruling - both in terms of repaying other motorists’ fines, and its plans to act on the TPT adjudicator’s ruling - but the council has failed to answer after nearly two months.
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