Drivers are being warned to stick to rules as more than a thousand people have been hit with fines for breaking the rules of the road in Reading.
Yellow box junctions are designed to keep intersections free of traffic and make sure the junction is clear.
Reading Borough Council won powers to fine drivers for stopping in yellow boxes unnecessarily from the previous Conservative government in 2022.
Since then, drivers have been hit with fines at six locations across the town, with more on the way.
A total of 1,638 penalty charge notice (PCN) fines were issued from the start of April 2023 to the end of March 2024.
Once enforcement goes live, the council must issue free warnings for six months before drivers can be dealt with a fine.
More warning notices were issued compared to fines over the year, with 2,455 warnings being issued in 2023/24.
Enforcement of yellow box junctions has cost the council more than it made in income.
The council spent £40,975 on enforcement, and made an income of £40,294 from the paid fines, leaving a net cost of £681.
These figures were presented to councillors at a recent meeting, with councillor Adele Barnett-Ward pointing out that any excess income is ring-fenced and can only be invested in transport measures.
She then asked whether the council can expect to make a surplus from enforcement next year.
Cllr Barnett-Ward (Labour, Thames) said: “The point about this is affecting behaviour, it’s not about income generation.
“What I wanted to understand was whether it was not covering its cost because we had that bedding in period and its a new scheme or whether we would expect that to continue to go forward on that line.”
Elizabeth Robertson, the council’s assistant parking services manager replied: “We do expect that it should start covering its costs this year, the six-month warning notice period does have an impact on that, so we are now out of that for the first two yellow box junctions.
“We are seeing an increase in the number of tickets, we are covering our costs now for that.”
Her answer was given at a meeting of the council’s traffic management sub-committee on Thursday, March 6.
Of the 1,638 PCNs issued, 1,252 were paid, with 1,156 of those being paid at a discounted rate of £35 when the driver paid within 21 days of receiving the PCN.
The fine is increased to £70 if paid within 28 days.
Surpluses from traffic and parking enforcement have been invested in road safety measures and maintenance.
The council made £6.344 million of parking services income in 2023/24 and spent £8.808 million on road maintenance and safety measures, and benefits such as supported bus services.
