FOI request detail

Yellow box junction matters

Request ID: FOI-5062-1718
Date published: 01 August 2018

You asked

Yellow box junction rules and regulations and contraventions associated with it, related CCTV footage.

We answered

TfL Ref: 5062-1718

Thank you for your letter received by us on 21 March 2018 asking for information about box junctions and Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs).

Part of Question Seven of your correspondence is being treated as an Internal Review, with the remainder addressed by Customer Services. Questions Three, Six, Seven and Eight of your request have been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. You asked for the following:

3. Provide details of memos and correspondence between the various departments

As previously advised, PCN levels in London are set by the London Councils Transport and Environment Committee (TEC) with the approval of the Mayor and the Secretary of State. Details of the decision making process are available via the link included in our earlier response. Transport for London (TfL) is a member of the Committee, which meets once a quarter. Full details of all meetings, including agendas, minutes and relevant supplementary information is published on the London Councils website.

We assume by memos and correspondence between the various departments, you are in fact referring to memos and correspondence between TfL, London Councils, the Mayor and the Secretary of State. The current PCN levels in London have been in place since April 2011 and were implemented following a full public consultation which was run by London Councils. To locate the specific correspondence you have requested would exceed the cost limit.

In accordance with section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with a request if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. This is calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on the activities described. Due to the time that has passed, all of the emails will have been archived, and many of them sent/received by individuals no longer employed at TfL and so it would require a series of detailed searches of archived email accounts to locate the information we hold. Due to the wide scope of your request, it would be difficult to determine at what point we could be satisfied that we have collated all of the information held that is caught by your request. We therefore consider that undergoing this process would considerably exceed the cost limit.

Whilst the cost limit refusal notice would ordinarily apply to your request as a whole, we have decided to process the remainder of your request separately to ensure that you do not need to resubmit a further request, excluding the information that we consider to breach the cost limit.

Details of TEC Committee meetings attended by TfL at which the PCN increase was discussed are available on the London Councils website via the following links:

• Agenda from London Councils TEC Meeting on 10 June 2010 https://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/node/19046. Please refer to Item 16.
• Minutes from London Councils TEC AGM on 10 June 2010 https://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/node/19307. Please refer to Item 16.
• Agenda from London Councils TEC Meeting on 9 December 2010 https://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/node/19550. Please refer to Item 6.
• Minutes from London Councils TEC Meeting on 9 December 2010 https://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/node/19844. Please refer to Item 6.

In accordance with section 21 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply you with a copy of the requested information as it is already accessible to you elsewhere.

A copy of the letter from London Councils asking the Secretary of State to approve the increase is attached.

In accordance with TfL’s obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), some personal data has been removed, as required by section 40(2) of the FOI Act. This is because disclosure of this personal data would be a breach of the DPA, specifically the first principle of the DPA which requires all processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. It would not be fair to disclose this personal information when the individuals have no expectation it would be disclosed and TfL has not satisfied one of the conditions of Schedule 2 of the Data Protection Act which would make the processing ‘fair’.

6. Instances where stopping in a box junction is acceptable

As previously advised, box junctions are referred to in Rule 174 of the Highway Code via https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/using-the-road-159-to-203, which states:
Box junctions. These have criss-cross yellow lines painted on the road. You MUST NOT enter the box until your exit road or lane is clear. However, you may enter the box and wait when you want to turn right, and are only stopped from doing so by oncoming traffic, or by other vehicles waiting to turn right. At signalled roundabouts you MUST NOT enter the box unless you can cross over it completely without stopping.
The Statutory Instrument governing box junctions is the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (the TSRGD), specifically Paragraph 11 of Part 7 of Schedule 9, which sets out:
Box junctions
11.—(1) Subject to sub-paragraphs (2), (3) and (4), the yellow criss-cross marking provided for at item 25 of the sign table in Part 6 conveys the prohibition that a person must not cause a vehicle to enter the box junction so that the vehicle has to stop within the box junction due to the presence of stationary vehicles.
(2) Subject to sub-paragraph (4) the marking when placed as a box junction within sub-paragraph (6)(c) of the definition of that expression conveys the prohibition that a person must not cause a vehicle to enter the box junction so that the vehicle has to stop within the box junction due to the presence of oncoming vehicles or other stationary vehicles beyond the box junction.
(3) The prohibition in sub-paragraph (1) does not, in respect of a box junction within sub-paragraph (6)(a) of the definition of that expression, apply to a person who—
(a) causes a vehicle to enter the box junction for the purpose of turning right; and
(b) stops the vehicle within the box junction for so long as the vehicle is prevented from completing the right turn by an oncoming vehicle or other vehicle which is stationary whilst waiting to complete a right turn.
(4) When a vehicle is being used for at least one of the purposes mentioned at sub-paragraph (5) and the observance of the prohibition in sub-paragraph (1) or (2) would be likely to hinder the use of that vehicle for that purpose, then that prohibition does not apply to the driver of the vehicle.
(5) The purposes are—
(a) fire and rescue authority;
(b) Scottish Fire and Rescue Service;
(c) ambulance;
(d) providing a response to an emergency at the request of an NHS ambulance service;
(e) bomb or explosive disposal;
(f) special forces;
(g) police; and
(h) National Crime Agency.
(6) For the purposes of this paragraph “box junction” means an area of the carriageway where the marking has been placed and which is—
(a) at a junction between two or more roads;
(b) at a gyratory system or roundabout;
(c) along a length of a two-way road (other than at a junction), the carriageway of which is not greater than 4.5 metres wide at its narrowest point; or
(d) on the length of road adjacent to the vehicular entrance to the premises of a fire, police or ambulance station; and
(7) A reference in this paragraph (however expressed) to a vehicle which is stationary or stops within a box junction includes a vehicle which is stationary whilst part of it is within the box junction.
7. Number of junctions camera equipped and total revenue received since inception

We have enforced box junctions on our red route network since the London Local Authorities and Transport for London Act 2003 was enacted, however, we can only provide information about PCNs issued since we moved to our current enforcement system in 2015. This is because while we retain access to individual PCNs, we can no longer run reports for PCNs issued prior to the move. The information that is available is shown in the table below:

PCNs issued to vehicles for the contravention 'Entering and stopping in a box junction when prohibited' 1 April 2017 - 31 March 2018 1 April 2016 - 31 March 2017 1 April 2015 - 31 March 2016
Number of box junctions enforced 190 175 145
Number of PCNs issued 123,071 108,164 99,550
Value of payments received £ 7,941,562  £ 7,405,372  £ 6,602,618

8. How would TfL replace that income

We have not undertaken any analysis of this nature and therefore do not hold this information.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely

Jasmine Howard
FOI Case Officer
Information Governance
Transport For London

 

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