£80m boost to TfL as CCTV catches 1m illegal parkers
Transport for London has pocketed more than £80 million in parking fines since it started policing many of the capital's busiest roads five years ago.
CCTV cameras have overtaken traffic wardens as the most profitable way of punishing illegal parkers and TfL is using "stealth" to raise money, campaigners say.
Figures released by London Mayor and TfL boss Boris Johnson show that while staff have ticketed 950,000 times in the last five years, CCTV has overtaken them and broken through the million barrier.
TfL is now responsible for one of the country's largest CCTV networks, since taking over enforcement on red routes from police in November 2004. These 700 cameras monitor a third of all the capital's traffic.
Director of the RAC Foundation Professor Stephen Glaister said: "London's drivers are happy to follow the rules if they are fair and effective. But what will alienate them is a system they regard as draconian, more about raising money than clearing the jams, and policed by stealth."
TfL maintains that CCTV is an effective way to keep roads clear, with the money from fines spent on improving the transport network.
Cameras record video evidence of parking infringements, store number plate details and send the driver a £120 fine in the post. TfL's most profitable year was 2008, with CCTV raising £12,987,331 in fines and wardens bringing in another £9,683,406.
Last year, the CCTV parking ticket hotspot was Lambeth, where more than one in 10 of 155,000 tickets were issued. The figures do not include fines for other contraventions.
A TfL spokesman said: "Our priority is to prevent unnecessary jams and enforcement is not about raising revenue or punishing motorists. In 2009 the number of CCTV penalty charge notices issued reduced by 40 per cent compared with the previous year [due to] a combination of improved compliance and a fairer approach from TfL.
"TfL has no plans to move away from the use of on-street personnel to enforce parking regulations. These officers provide a vital service and undertake a range of other activities on the network."
