Sunderland Bus Lane Fines — PCNs, Income & Appeals
How many bus lane Penalty Charge Notices Sunderland City Council issues, from which cameras, how much it raises, and how often challenges succeed — from data released under Freedom of Information (ref FOI 11338).
31,583
PCNs issued in 3 years2023/24–2025/26
£860,454
gross income, 3 yearsnet of costs not held
11,996
PCNs in 2025/26across 3 cameras
54%
paid at the £35 discount2025/26
50%
of challenges upheld2025/26
This page reports data released by Sunderland City Council under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI 11338, responded 2026-08-12). 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
One camera does almost everything here. The city-centre bus gate at Vine Place, switched on in March 2024, has issued 22,356 penalties in two years — seven of every ten Sunderland has issued, from a camera that has been running for a third of the time the other two have. Its first full month, May 2024, produced 1,612 penalties on its own, more than Dene Street has managed in three years. The two suburban gates are steady and small by comparison: Dene Street in Silksworth has issued 5,308 since August 2023 and Raby Road in Washington 3,919, both drifting slowly downward. City-wide the total fell from 16,350 in 2024/25 to 11,996 in 2025/26 as the city-centre gate bedded in, and the three gates have raised £860,454 gross, an average of £27.24 for every penalty issued. Challenging is worth the stamp: of the 3,154 formal representations the council has decided, it cancelled 1,526 — very close to half. Going further is not: twelve Sunderland cases have reached the Traffic Penalty Tribunal in three years and eleven of them failed.
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.
Sunderland City Council stated plainly that it does not enforce bus lanes at all: every penalty in these figures comes from one of three bus gates. The council's records name them Dene Street, Raby Road and Vine Place. Two of those are the same restrictions we list under different names — the Washington gate is on the Brancepeth Road and Raby Road corner, and the city-centre gate that the council announced as the Holmeside scheme appears in its penalty records as Vine Place, the street it turns into. Nothing is missing from the list and nothing extra is on it.
Challenges & appeals — do they work?
Formal representations to the council, and appeals to the independent Traffic Penalty Tribunal. Drivers made 3,154 formal challenges over 3 years.
Year
Challenges
Upheld
Rejected
Success rate
To tribunal
2023/24
160
59
96
37%
4 (0 allowed / 4 dismissed)
2024/25
1,442
684
758
47%
4 (1 allowed / 3 dismissed)
2025/26
1,552
783
568
50%
4 (0 allowed / 4 dismissed)
The council's own figures show the share of challenges upheld went from 37% in 2023/24 to 50% 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 Sunderland City 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. The council's own figures confirm the discounted rate exactly: in the first month of enforcement, August 2023, Dene Street took £105 and Raby Road £70 — three payments and two payments at £35 each, before any full-rate penalty had been paid.
What the council does not hold or publish
Anything before August 2023. Sunderland's camera enforcement started in the summer of 2023, so there is no 2021/22 or 2022/23 to report. The 2023/24 figures cover eight months, August to March, not a full year — the jump to 2024/25 is partly that and partly a third camera coming on line.
Income net of operating costs. The council gave the money each bus gate took month by month and nothing about what the cameras cost to run, so every income figure here is gross.
The date enforcement began at each bus gate. The council was asked and pointed back to a table that carries no dates. The months its own figures start in — August 2023 for Dene Street and Raby Road, April 2024 for Vine Place — are the best available guide, and they match the council's public announcements that the Washington and Silksworth cameras went live in July 2023 and the city-centre camera on 18 March 2024 after a two-week warning period.
The bus lanes behind these cameras
Each of these locations has a full page with operating hours, permitted vehicles and the governing traffic order: