Red Route fines going up. From This is Money. | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

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Thu 5 Aug 2021 19:13

Red Route fines going up. From This is Money. - _

Transport for London has today launched a public consultation to increase the maximum fine on the capital's Red Routes by £30.

It looks set to be the next sting on drivers in the capital following last week's announcement that the temporarily increased Congestion Charge of £15 will remain in place.

A hike to fine amounts for Red Route offences, such as blocking yellow box junctions, breaking parking rules, performing illegal turns and driving in bus lanes, would see motorists receive a maximum penalty charge notice (PCN) of £160, up from £130.

Making the announcement, Siwan Hayward, TfL's director of compliance and policing, said: 'London's network of red routes plays a vital role in keeping people moving across the capital and it's really important that everybody follows the rules that are in place to keep roads clear and to keep people safe.

'We'd much rather people follow the rules than fine them, and the proposed increase in fines is intended to increase compliance with the rules and make streets safer, cleaner and less congested for everyone.

'I'd urge people to have their say on these proposals and we welcome all feedback on our plans.'

The proposals for larger fines comes just a week after TfL announced that the 'temporary' increase to the Congestion Charge - up from £11.50 to £15 - would be made permanent, though the hours of operation reduced.

It recently confirmed the rollout of up to 50 new 'smart cameras' across London’s roads that will help enforce rules and reduce road deaths.

The consultation end will also come just a month ahead of the extension to the capital's Ultra Low Emission Zone, which will cover the entirety of London between the North and South Circular Roads and change drivers of non-compliant older vehicles £12.50 a day each time they get behind the wheel.

This is Money revealed last month that City Hall rake in an extra £107million from the first year ULEZ was operational, having launched the zone in April 2019.

RAC head of roads policy, Nicholas Lyes, slammed the proposal for higher fine amounts.

'Only last week, the Mayor announced hikes to the Congestion Charge, and now he follows this up with an unnecessary hike in the penalty charge level,' he said.

'The previous levy should have been a sufficient enough deterrent to prevent contraventions, so this rise appears to be nothing more than a money-grab.

'It is starting to feel like the Mayor of London is waging a war on drivers and businesses that rely on their vehicles with another eye-watering hike.'

Red Routes are recognisable for their painted red 'no-stopping' lines and signs on designated routes.

Single and double red lines ban all stopping, parking and loading. Double red lines apply at all times and single red lines usually apply during the working day.

They are designed to keep traffic flowing and prohibit drivers from stopping except for in designated areas.

Edited by _ORB_ on 07/08/2021 at 07:21

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Thu 5 Aug 2021 21:53

Red Route fines going up. From This is Money. - Terry W

I'm pleased to be living 180 miles away, but sympathise with the locals.

Using a desire to increase compliance seems dishonest - whether the fine is £100 or £130 makes little difference I would have thought.

A better approach would be to have the fine increasing from (say) £30 for a first infrngment by (say) £30 for every additional infringement in a rolling 12 month period up to £300 a time.

This would penalise regular offenders, but a minor occassional transgression will not break the bank..

Edited by Xileno on 07/08/2021 at 09:07

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Fri 6 Aug 2021 11:57

Red Route fines going up. From This is Money. - Terry W

London has a population of ~9m.

Car owenership (at least 1 in a household) in London is 56% compared to 80% for the rest of the country. In London 29% use the car for commuting compared to 67% elsewhere.

Cars are less important to Londoners than the rest of the country. They may often be seen as an essential burden rather than the means to live, work and socialise.

Public transport is frequent and often 24x7. Most needs can be met locally using public transport - shops, cinemas, restaurants, theatres, schools, hospitals etc etc

Car ownership in a densely populated city makes little sense.

Reducing car ownership and usage by raising taxes to be spent on improving coverage and frequency of public transport, cycle paths, taxis, and short term car rentals is good sense politically and environmentally.

Politically non-car owners are unlikely to object, and even many car owners would be supportive of the principle. No politician is going to win votes by the converse - widen roads, eliminate cyle paths, convert parks to car parks, reduce public transport frequency and coverage, increase fares.

Edited by Xileno on 07/08/2021 at 09:10

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Fri 6 Aug 2021 12:34

Red Route fines going up. From This is Money. - _

London has a population of ~9m.

Car owenership (at least 1 in a household) in London is 56% compared to 80% for the rest of the country. In London 29% use the car for commuting compared to 67% elsewhere.

Cars are less important to Londoners than the rest of the country. They may often be seen as an essential burden rather than the means to live, work and socialise.

Public transport is frequent and often 24x7. Most needs can be met locally using public transport - shops, cinemas, restaurants, theatres, schools, hospitals etc etc

Car ownership in a densely populated city makes little sense.

Reducing car ownership and usage by raising taxes to be spent on improving coverage and frequency of public transport, cycle paths, taxis, and short term car rentals is good sense politically and environmentally.

Politically non-car owners are unlikely to object, and even many car owners would be supportive of the principle. No politician is going to win votes by the converse - widen roads, eliminate cyle paths, convert parks to car parks, reduce public transport frequency and coverage, increase fares.

A very well put point of view.

Edited by Xileno on 07/08/2021 at 09:10

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Fri 6 Aug 2021 14:39

Red Route fines going up. From This is Money. - Engineer Andy

London has a population of ~9m.

Car owenership (at least 1 in a household) in London is 56% compared to 80% for the rest of the country. In London 29% use the car for commuting compared to 67% elsewhere.

Cars are less important to Londoners than the rest of the country. They may often be seen as an essential burden rather than the means to live, work and socialise.

Public transport is frequent and often 24x7. Most needs can be met locally using public transport - shops, cinemas, restaurants, theatres, schools, hospitals etc etc

Car ownership in a densely populated city makes little sense.

Reducing car ownership and usage by raising taxes to be spent on improving coverage and frequency of public transport, cycle paths, taxis, and short term car rentals is good sense politically and environmentally.

Politically non-car owners are unlikely to object, and even many car owners would be supportive of the principle. No politician is going to win votes by the converse - widen roads, eliminate cyle paths, convert parks to car parks, reduce public transport frequency and coverage, increase fares.

A very well put point of view.

I think there always need to be a differentiation between those people who live in outer parts of big cities like London and inner city areas, as the inner city areas are much easier to go between A & B by public transport.

The problem always comes when a person lives near the boundary of the 'Zone' and they need a car for work (outside the zone) but single ticket public transport inside for say one trip a week for groceries and occasional other trips is overly expensive.

Systems like the Oyster card help to reduce that difference, but to those on low incomes it still can be sizeable. An annual season ticket can be a big chunk of someone's monthly pay packet (often more than they earn by some margin) if they don't earn much.

Even worse for small business onwers who make deliveries during the day where parking is (deliberately made) almost impossible.

I also think that poor town (city) planning and overpopulation in cities makes the situation far worse, because the public transport systems can never keep up and the roads were designed for traffic levels 30-50 years ago.