Portsmouth Bus Lane Fines — PCNs, Income & Appeals
How many bus lane Penalty Charge Notices Portsmouth City Council issues, from which cameras, how much it raises, and how often challenges succeed — from data released under Freedom of Information (ref FOI2026/02688).
84,906
PCNs issued in 5 years2021/22–2025/26
£2.74m
gross income, 5 yearsnet of costs not held
10,818
PCNs in 2025/26across 6 cameras
71%
paid at the £35 discount2025/26
73%
of challenges upheld2025/26
This page reports data released by Portsmouth City Council under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI2026/02688, responded 2026-07-29). 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
Portsmouth issued around 15,000 bus lane PCNs a year until Lake Road came online in August 2023 and immediately became the busiest camera in the city — 10,046 notices in its first part-year, more than the next two sites combined. That pushed the 2023/24 total to 23,227 and gross income to £773,014, the highest of the five years. Volumes have fallen at every long-standing site since.
Which cameras issue the most fines
Camera-enforced bus lane locations ranked by PCNs issued in 2025/26. The last column is the 5-year total.
Question 6 of the response lists seven camera-enforced locations. The council's own open data table of enforced bus lanes carries two more — Charlotte Street and Furze Lane — which appear in neither the FOI location list nor the PCN spreadsheet, so no notices are recorded against them here. Cascades Approach is named with a July 2026 start date, after the data window closed, and so has no figures either.
Challenges & appeals — do they work?
Formal representations to the council, and appeals to the independent Traffic Penalty Tribunal. Drivers made 5,735 formal challenges over 5 years.
Year
Challenges
Upheld
Rejected
Success rate
To tribunal
2021/22
736
372
364
51%
6 (2 allowed / 4 dismissed)
2022/23
887
508
379
57%
6 (1 allowed / 5 dismissed)
2023/24
1,674
1,423
251
85%
3 (0 allowed / 3 dismissed)
2024/25
1,488
969
519
65%
6 (2 allowed / 4 dismissed)
2025/26
950
697
253
73%
2 (1 allowed / 1 dismissed)
The council's own figures show the share of challenges upheld went from 51% in 2021/22 to 73% 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 Portsmouth City Council is £70, reduced to £35 if paid within 21 days. It is a civil penalty — there are no licence points.
What the council does not hold or publish
Net income. Income is the gross amount paid. The council said it does not hold a breakdown of the operating costs of issuing bus lane PCNs, so no net figure exists (FOI question 3).
The bus lanes behind these cameras
Each of these locations has a full page with operating hours, permitted vehicles and the governing traffic order: