How many bus lane Penalty Charge Notices Bolton Council issues, from which cameras, how much it raises, and how often challenges succeed — from data released under Freedom of Information (ref RFI 023737).
21,807
PCNs issued in 3 years2023/24–2025/26
£685,722
gross income, 3 yearsnet of costs not held
12,485
PCNs in 2025/26across 5 cameras
71%
paid at the £35 discount2025/26
13%
of challenges upheld2025/26
This page reports data released by Bolton Council under the Freedom of Information Act (RFI 023737, responded 2026-08-17). Figures are the council's own. BusLaneCheck is independent and not affiliated with the council. Compare every UK authority →
Bus lane PCNs issued per yearGross PCN income per year
Bolton's bus lane enforcement is young and growing fast. It began in October 2023 with a single camera on St Helens Road, which issued 2,825 PCNs in that first part-year. Four more sites opened over the following eighteen months, and PCNs roughly doubled in each of the two full years since — 6,497 in 2024/25, then 12,485 in 2025/26, with income rising from £47,393 to £414,820. Deansgate alone accounted for 5,616 in 2025/26, more than the whole network issued in 2024/25. St Helens Road ran the opposite way, falling from 2,825 to 1,999 and then to none at all in 2025/26; the response does not say why, and the lane still appears in the council's published list.
Which cameras issue the most fines
Camera-enforced bus lane locations ranked by PCNs issued in 2025/26. The last column is the 3-year total.
Bolton named five camera sites. Four of them match a single bus lane page on this site; St Helens Road does not, because the council's own hours document splits that road into five separate stretches (at Plodder Lane east and west, Campbell Road, Henry Lee Street and Blackledge Street) and the PCN figures are given for the road as a whole, so the St Helens Road row here covers all five. A sixth camera, on Knowsley Street, began enforcing on 13 May 2026 — after the last financial year in this data — and so has no PCN count yet. Bolton's Derby Street, Bridge Street and Great Moor Street bus lanes appear in the council's hours document but not in its PCN figures at all.
Challenges & appeals — do they work?
Formal representations to the council, and appeals to the independent Traffic Penalty Tribunal. Drivers made 2,528 formal challenges over 3 years.
Year
Challenges
Upheld
Rejected
Success rate
To tribunal
2023/24
178
23
83
13%
—
2024/25
904
145
280
16%
16 (1 allowed / 14 dismissed)
2025/26
1,446
194
456
13%
21 (2 allowed / 14 dismissed)
The council's own figures show the share of challenges upheld went from 13% in 2023/24 to 13% in 2025/26 — so a well-grounded challenge is worth making. See our guide to appealing a bus lane PCN for the grounds that win.
The fine itself
A bus lane PCN from Bolton Council is £70, reduced to £35 if paid within 21 days. It is a civil penalty — there are no licence points. £70, halved to £35 if paid within 21 days, is the figure in Bolton's own Parking Services Financial Report for 2024-25, which lists "Bus Lane PCNs: Standard rate: £70 (discounted to £35 if paid within 21 days)" separately from its parking penalties. The FOI response did not restate it. The council's Code of Practice for Bus Lane Camera Enforcement gives the same 21-day discount period and a 28-day payment period, after which the charge is increased by a half.
What the council does not hold or publish
Anything before October 2023. Bolton says bus lane enforcement did not begin until October 2023 and that it holds no figures for any earlier period. The request asked for five financial years; three exist.
Income net of operating costs. Only the gross take was given. The council said the cost of running bus lane enforcement is not held separately, so there is no net figure.
The bus lanes behind these cameras
Each of these locations has a full page with operating hours, permitted vehicles and the governing traffic order: