Wellington mid-city bus route taking $24k a week in fines

Thursday, 20 March 2025

Have your say in comments below

Wellington City Council is raking in $24,000 on average a week in infringements along a short, mid-city bus route, a figure the AA says is abhorrent and demonstrates the system isn’t working.

New fixed cameras began operating in Manners St in June last year to monitor a 500m stretch of road between Willis and Taranaki streets.

The move has proved to be lucrative for the council with figures released to The Post under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act showing that in the seven months from June to December 2024, 4818 tickets were issued for illegally driving in the Manners St bus lane, boosting the council’s coffers by $722,700.

October was a particularly profitable month with an average 44 drivers pinged each day. At $150 a time the council would be pocketing close to $6600 in fines daily.

The inbound, or northbound section, which runs to Willis St is the most problematic for drivers, with the section running from Willis St through to Taranaki St being less so.

Prior to cameras being installed the bus lanes were occasionally monitored manually by officers with cameras on tripods, a considerably less effective method of pulling up wrong doers as shown by the data, with just 523 tickets issued along Manners St in a six-month period to December 2023.

Similarly in Pirie St, which connects with the Mt Victoria bus tunnel, three months of manual monitoring prior to the introduction of a fixed camera in September, saw just three infringement notices issued, while 179 were issued across the following three months, netting a handy $26,850.

AA Wellington’s Geordie Cassin said the Manners St figures were “deeply concerning and very disappointing.They show loud and clear that the introduction of the lanes was poorly thought through and badly communicated.

“The AA wanted the lanes to be available for all vehicles at off peak times. Council rejected that.

We [also]called for clear signage and a public awareness campaign to give drivers fair warning.That hasn’t happened.

“I don’t know how any city councillor can look at those numbers and say the system is working well for Wellingtonians.”

Penalising people just trying to get from A to B was “just abhorrent”, Cassin said.

Cameras have also recently been installed in Adelaide Rd Riddiford St, Chaytor St (Karori) and Cambridge Tce, with Lambton Quay next in line for electronic monitoring.

For those looking to avoid a ticket in future, bus-only lanes can be used only by buses, unless there is a specified time displayed, outside of which all vehicles can use the lane.

The Manners St bus lane travelling east from Willis St to Victoria St is “bus only” between 6am and 7pm Monday to Friday, while the northbound section, from Cuba St to Willis St is “bus only” at all times, as is the eastward section from Victoria St to Taranaki St.

Bus lanes can be used by bikes, mopeds, motorbikes, and in-service taxis. Other vehicles can use a bus lane briefly (up to 50m) to turn left into another street or a driveway. It is illegal to park in a bus or cycle lane – even briefly.