Wolverhampton Bus Lane Fines — PCNs, Income & Appeals

How many bus lane Penalty Charge Notices City of Wolverhampton Council issues, from which cameras, how much it raises, and how often challenges succeed — from data released under Freedom of Information (ref 13474693).

167,838
PCNs issued in 5 years2021/22–2025/26
£4.71m
gross income, 5 yearsnet of costs not held
32,016
PCNs in 2025/26across 12 cameras
59%
paid at the £35 discount2025/26
51%
of challenges upheld2025/26
This page reports data released by City of Wolverhampton Council under the Freedom of Information Act (13474693, responded 2026-08-14). Figures are the council's own. BusLaneCheck is independent and not affiliated with the council. Compare every UK authority →
Bus lane PCNs issued per year
53,3772021/2237,7572022/2321,0482023/2423,6402024/2532,0162025/26
Gross PCN income per year
£1,551,4792021/22£1,129,9142022/23£544,1912023/24£652,2862024/25£829,5562025/26

Wolverhampton's cameras issued 167,838 penalties over five years, and Victoria Square alone accounts for 78,120 of them — nearly half the city's total from one junction's two cameras. The pattern is a collapse and a rebound rather than a decline: 53,377 in 2021/22, then 37,757, then 21,048 in 2023/24, before climbing back to 23,640 and 32,016 in 2025/26. Victoria Square drives the whole shape, falling from 26,718 penalties to 3,735 in 2023/24 and returning to 16,778 last year. Income follows the same curve, from £1.55 million down to £544,191 and back to £829,556.

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.

Location2025/26PCNs (2025/26)5-year totalEnforced since
Victoria Square16,77878,120Jan 2016
Market Street3,85920,445Jan 2016
Willenhall Road3,51418,420Jun 2015
Stafford Street2,81315,508Jun 2015
High Street, Wednesfield2,54220,000Mar 2017
Wolverhampton Road2,05110,657Jun 2015
Hall Street, Bilston4593,937Nov 2017

The council enforces twelve cameras, and named every one with the date it started. Because several are directional pairs, they cover eight roads: Victoria Square and Stafford Street, Willenhall Road and Wolverhampton Road each have an inbound and an outbound camera, while Market Street, High Street in Wednesfield, Hall Street in Bilston and Cleveland Street have one each. Enforcement began on 1 June 2015 at the four original sites, reached Market Street and Victoria Square in January 2016, and finished with High Street in March 2017 and Hall Street that November. We hold nineteen Wolverhampton lane pages, because the council's published enforcement programme lists eleven further roads it has never issued a penalty on in the five years covered here; those eleven now say on their pages that the council's own camera list omits them. A separate “Cleveland Street” camera issued 751 PCNs in 2021/22 and does not appear in later years.

Challenges & appeals — do they work?

Formal representations to the council. Drivers made 29,430 formal challenges over 5 years.

YearChallengesUpheldRejectedSuccess rate
2021/227,1093,1041,79344%
2022/236,7793,6621,58554%
2023/244,4702,07359046%
2024/254,6811,94245841%
2025/266,3913,26476751%

The council's own figures show the share of challenges upheld went from 44% in 2021/22 to 51% 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 City of Wolverhampton Council is £70, reduced to £35 if paid within 14 days. It is a civil penalty — there are no licence points. £70, halved to £35 if paid within 14 days, as carried on the nineteen Wolverhampton lane pages from the council's own bus lane enforcement scheme page. The FOI response did not restate it, but its income figures corroborate it — see the yield check in the trend note.

What the council does not hold or publish

  • Income net of operating costs. The council gave a gross figure for every year and said the same thing each time: the cost of running the enforcement is not held separately.
  • Appeals to the tribunal. The council does not hold its own appeals figures and pointed instead to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal's published appeals data. The representations figures above are the council's own.
  • Exact enforcement start dates for five sites. Market Street, Victoria Square, High Street in Wednesfield and Hall Street in Bilston are dated only to the month, which the council said is all it holds.

The bus lanes behind these cameras

Each of these locations has a full page with operating hours, permitted vehicles and the governing traffic order: