The skies have darkened, a chill is in the air and rain has started pattering the ground. It’s a typical murky afternoon in December.
I’m currently in Wolverhampton city centre, standing next to a notorious ‘bus gate’ which is catching out 32 drivers a day on average. The bus gate, located in an area known as Victoria Square near the city’s train station and bus station, has made headlines recently for the sheer amount of money it has generated over the past four years.
Following a question by opposition councillors to the Labour-controlled administration during a meeting last month, it was revealed Victoria Square was the highest-earning bus gate in the city. The bus gate earned Wolverhampton City Council a total of £1,858,225 from Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) issued to drivers between April 2020 and September 2024.
READ MORE: The ‘confusing’ Midlands bus lane that snares 32 drivers a day
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The initial fine is £70, reduced to £35 if paid within 21 days. Despite the terminology, there is no actual physical gate involved. A bus gate is similar – but also slightly different – to a bus lane, which drivers may be more aware of. Essentially, a bus gate covers a smaller area.
They are short sections of road that only buses and authorized vehicles can use, typically located in busy areas like city centres. Meanwhile, bus lanes are lanes usually separated by a solid white line that only buses can use alongside other vehicles under certain conditions.
Signage for the Victoria Square bus gate in Wolverhampton
The Victoria Square bus gate is comprised of four roads that meet at a crossroads outside The Britannia Hotel and The Sunbeam pub, which are Pipers Row, Lichfield Street, Fryer Street and Railway Drive. As the rain poured, I positioned myself on the pavement along Fryer Street, with a clear view of the bus gate up the hill.
As I soon found out, it wasn’t just the bleak weather dampening the drivers’ spirits. The fines would also be entering their letterboxes in a few days.
Within a half hour’s period, I counted at least two drivers pass through the bus gate. That didn’t include the taxis, particularly the Ubers that looked liked civilian cars, which were exempt from the rules.
On a number of occasions, I spotted motorists driving along Fryer Street at a snail’s pace, appearing to try and survey the road signs ahead. One sign, with a white background, which was installed for drivers, displayed a no-entry symbol for the left turning onto Railway Drive and a blue circle for trams and authorised vehicles going straight ahead.
Another sign featuring a blue background, which was installed for cyclists, directed people down Railway Drive with a symbol for the train station. Meanwhile, on the brow of the hill on Fryer Street was a large ‘bus gate’ label, which only became visible once you got close due to the curvature of the gradient.
While the signs were clear enough to me, it was easy to see how confusing it could be for motorists, particularly those driving by at night. As I witnessed drivers passing along Fryer Street, it felt as if some of them were trying to decipher the signage and figure out the correct way to go.
At least two drove straight on along Fryer Street onto Pipers Row, which is a bus gate infringement. Wolverhampton council says that there is “clear signage at the start and throughout the length of all bus lanes” in the city”.
However Conservative Cllr Paul Singh believes up to “99 per cent” of drivers on Victoria Square are getting penalised because the “signage isn’t clear”, leading to the council generating “National Lottery winning figures”. While bus gates are brought in to help make public transport more efficient, it’s clear they can also come at a cost to motorists.