Motorists now face £160 fine for driving in bus lanes, committing parking offences and failing to pay C-charge in the capital

Drivers in London face a higher £160 fine for being caught driving in bus lanes, parking offences and failing to pay the congestion charge.

Transport for London announced today that the price hike starts on January 2 for the C-charge and should be rolled out on its red-routes network within a matter of weeks.

The fines will be issued to motorists stopping on red routes, those who drive in bus lanes, block bus lanes, carry out illegal turns and create hazards for pedestrians and cyclists.

Local authorities are expected to follow suit with the price rise.

Paul Cowperthwaite, TfL’s General Manager for Road User Charging, said: “We want to make London’s street safer and healthier places that are less dominated by the car. Although the Congestion Charge has been effective in reducing the number of cars entering central London, we’ve seen a 12 per cent increase in the number of motorists being issued with PCNs in the last five years.

“This shows that the deterrent factor of the existing PCN has reduced over time. The new PCN level will help improve compliance and also encourage people to consider cheaper and more active alternative forms of travel.”

The Penalty charge notice (PCN) fees will increase by 23 percent from £130 to £160, with early payment fines rising from £65 to £80. This follows a public consultation which ended in November and received 7400 responses.

The plans for red-route fines will need to be signed off by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, with the paperwork sent off by TfL yesterday.

Tory MP Bob Blackman commented: “Happy Christmas from TfL and the Mayor of London!

“But this is not helping to solve congestion at all – this is penalising motorists who make mistakes to raise money.

“I keep coming across people who drive inadvertently into bus lanes, for example, because of poor signage who are shocked to be fined.”

The Harrow East MP said every London borough was bound to copy the rise.

Labour MP Wes Streeting, who represents Ilford North, said: “Penalty charges are never popular, but if we’re serious about reducing toxic air then we need a congestion charge zone that’s properly enforced. The best way for motorists to avoid this bigger charge is to place by the rules.”

The number of motorists being issued with Congestion Charge PCNs saw around 1.3 million issued in 2011/12 to around 1.5 million in 2016/17.

A press notice released by the organisation today said the new charges will “encourage greater compliance and help to improve traffic”.

It is set to raise bring in an extra £20 million in extra revenue a year.

TfL said they will reinvest all income received from PCNs back into improving London’s transport network. This includes investing in maintenance, reducing danger on the road and transforming the capital’s streets into more attractive, accessible and welcoming places, in line with the Mayor’s draft Transport Strategy.

Since the C-charge was introduced 14 years ago, it has brought in £1.9 billion for London - £1.5bn of which has been spent on improvements to the bus network, £163m on roads and bridges, £79m on road safety.