Bus lane fines generate almost £3 million for Welsh council
Kieran Molloy, Local democracy reporter
More than 100,000 motorists have been caught driving in Cardiff bus lanes over a three year period, generating more than £2.9m for the council.
A freedom of information (FOI) request, made by online used car retailer cinch, showed that between January 2023 and December 2025, Cardiff Council issued 100,263 bus lane penalty charge notices (PCNs).
The enforcement generated a total of £2,942,882.65 for the city in this period.
A spokesperson from the council told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Around 70,000 commuters come into Cardiff every day for work and effective enforcement of moving traffic offences helps to stop our road network getting snarled up.”
They continued: “Any surplus income generated from moving traffic offences is transferred to a parking reserve account.
“This is then used to support traffic management improvements, public transport enhancements and highway and environmental improvements linked to transport, in accordance with section 55 of the Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984.”
Broken down by years, the council generated £1,162,609.06 in 2023, £1,086,787.54 in 2024 and £693,486.05 in 2025.
In 2023, the month with the most PCNs issued was November (3980), in 2024 it was September (3465) and July was the highest month in 2025 (2694).
According to the FOI request, over the three year period the single bus lane with the most PCNs was Custom House Street (Westbound) in the city centre.
This lane collected a gigantic 20,920 PCNs across the three year period.
Following the appeal process, 2,426 PCNs were cancelled in 2023, 2,197 in 2024 and 1,437 in 2025.
The PCNs for all bus lane violations in Cardiff is £70, however this is halved to £35 if payment is made within 21 days.
The council’s website reads: “If the PCN is ignored then the penalty will increase and you may end up having to pay a substantial amount of money.”
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
Some Cardiff road markings are well on the way to being worn out. Try driving through Cardiff on a dark, rainy night if you don’t know the route you’re travelling and you’re almost certain to end up in a bus lane. If you’re local, you should know better, and heaven help you if you’re not.
Do they share out the money generated from the motorists? I would not be surprised! They are dab-hand at targeting the motorists but fail completely when it comes to doing the work we pay them to do. Perhaps we should start taking councils to court and fine them for not providing services that we pay them for. Fining motorists for this that and the other is a very lucrative cash generator.