Bus lanes should only operate when buses actually run

The bus lane on the A370 is in operation 24 hours a day. Seven days a week. I drove down it at 10:30pm on a sunday in february and there was one car in front of me, no buses anywhere, and about a mile of empty bus lane I wasnt allowed to use. A camera clocked me and I got a 60 quid fine for "encroaching" onto it because I cut the corner slightly at a junction.

Bus lanes exist for a reason. During peak hours they keep buses moving. Fine. I support that. But the same lane being enforced at half past ten on a sunday night when no bus has passed through for four hours is just revenue collection dressed up as traffic management.

Here is the policy. Bus lanes are only enforceable during the actual hours the bus service runs plus a 30 minute buffer either side. Outside those hours they become regular traffic lanes. The camera at the A370 junction can work it out. Or if the technology really is too complicated, they can just paint smaller time restrictions on the signs like they used to before someone in a council office realised the current set-up makes them a fortune.