Driving in Bath

Bath has a Class C Clean Air Zone across its centre. A private car or motorcycle is not charged because of its age or fuel, but a taxi, private hire vehicle, van, minibus, bus or lorry may be. A non-compliant van or taxi pays £9 for the day; a non-compliant bus or lorry pays £100. The registration checker at GOV.UK is the practical starting point, especially for a pick-up or campervan whose DVLA category may differ from the owner's everyday description.

An M1 car remains uncharged even when used for work, but an N1 campervan may be chargeable. Pay through the official service for the correct day, up to six days before or after travel. Driving across midnight can create another daily charge; merely leaving a vehicle parked does not.

Bath and North East Somerset Council's parking report gives £70 for a higher-level parking contravention and £50 for a lower-level one, covering both streets and council car parks. The notice identifies which code applies. The national scale behind those amounts halves them for payment within 14 days and raises them to £105 or £75 once a charge certificate is issued. The simple rule is to read the specific BN notice for the deadline and check its photographs, not to guess from the cost of a different kind of ticket.

Challenge online or by post to Parking Services within 28 days of the notice being issued, giving the BN reference and the registration. A challenge made within 14 days keeps the reduced amount available even if it fails. An unpaid notice brings a Notice to Owner after 28 days, which allows a further 28 days for formal representation; rejection then allows appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, whose decision is final.

Bath's camera bus lane PCN is £70 for any contravention on or after 31 May 2022. The council offers £35 if paid within the first 21 days and allows a formal representation within 28 days of service. Keep the postal notice and its web code: these are needed to inspect the case or challenge online. The council says it will reply within 56 days, and if it rejects the representation, the Traffic Penalty Tribunal hears the appeal. The bus lane timeline is different from the parking notice's shorter discount window.

Moving traffic cameras watch specific turns: no entry at George Street and Gay Street, and no left turn at Newbridge Road and Newbridge Hill. Others enforce a no right turn at Cavendish Road and Sion Hill and a 7.5 tonne weight limit for commercial vehicles on Brook Road. All went live on Monday 24 August 2026. For the first six months after a restriction starts, a contravention normally brings a warning notice instead of a PCN, but further ones can bring a PCN. A challenge to a moving traffic PCN must arrive within 28 days of service, and the Traffic Penalty Tribunal hears appeals.

Bath's three established sites are Lansdown, Newbridge and Odd Down. Their bus routes are identified as 31, 21 and 41 respectively on Travelwest's fare page. Park at the site on your approach rather than following a destination through the Georgian centre and then looking for a spare space. The council says parking is free for people using the park and ride bus, and Travelwest adds that the car must be collected the same day. Parking without riding is a separate paid use: £2 for up to three hours or £3 for up to 24 hours, and the council is raising the 24-hour charge to £4 from 1 October 2026.

Travelwest lists a £4 adult return on the dedicated services, plus a £5.50 return for two adults from 9:30 on weekdays. Each fare-paying adult can take any number of children aged 4 and under, and up to five aged 5 to 15, free. These are bus fares; check the return timetable for an evening event. The last Lansdown and Newbridge buses leave the centre at 23:30 from Monday to Saturday and at 18:00 on Sunday.

For a tall van or campervan, check the height limit first: Travelwest lists 2m at Newbridge, 2.2m at Odd Down and no restriction at Lansdown. The council recommends Charlotte Street for taller vehicles because it has no height restriction, but parking there is charged.

Bath resident permits apply to particular zones and are tied to one vehicle. The council bases the price on the vehicle's CO2 emissions, or engine size where no emissions figure exists, adds a discount or charge for the car's length and width, and charges 25% more for any diesel. A property can hold two permits at most, and only one in the central zone. Apply for the precise address and registration; a pending application or neighbouring zone permit will not authorise a bay.

Residents can buy visitor parking through MiPermit, whether or not they own a car. The current published price is £15 per 100 digital hours; the council has set £20 per 100 hours from 1 April 2027 and £25 from 1 April 2028. Most zones allow up to 1,000 hours a year per property, but the central zone is limited to 100 hours per year. The resident, not the visiting driver, allocates the hours in one-hour units against the guest's registration. Choose the correct car registration and duration before your guest leaves the vehicle. A visitor permit covers a residents' permit-holder bay or a dual-use pay and display bay in that zone.

Bath Central Zone and Zone 6 resident permit holders can park free overnight in Charlotte Street car park, from 5.30pm to 10am. Check the registration conditions before relying on it. Other visitors can use ordinary pay-and-display bays or car parks.

The council identifies Revive and PodPoint chargers in its car parks and park and ride sites. Charlotte Street has Type 2 and rapid connections, while Newbridge, Odd Down and Lansdown park and ride sites have PodPoint equipment listed. Match the connector and available power to your car before setting the destination. A listed charger can be occupied or temporarily offline, so a second site is sensible when the remaining battery range is small.

The council publishes 55p per kWh for its 7 to 22kW fast chargers and 69p for 50kW rapid charging. These are energy prices, not parking fees. In the Charlotte Street charging bays the vehicle must be plugged in and charging and have an active parking stay; a shorter-stay charging tariff is sold through MiPermit only. Read both the charger screen and bay sign.

An electric car owes no Bath CAZ charge but remains subject to parking and access rules.

Cleveland Bridge is a useful example of why a map route is not enough for a large vehicle. The council's project page says it reopened to two-way traffic on 2 October 2022 with an 18-tonne limit, and that ANPR cameras watch for vehicles breaking it. A driver moving freight through Bath should check the signed weight restriction and a permitted alternative before setting off. A car visitor need not turn that limit into a general ban on the bridge; it addresses heavy vehicles.

The city centre security scheme closes streets such as Stall Street, Westgate Street, Cheap Street and Upper Borough Walls to most vehicles from 10am to 6pm, and York Street until 10pm. A Blue Badge holder can enter through the Cheap Street gate in those hours by showing the badge to a camera at the intercom post, and a taxi carrying a badge holder may pick up or drop off. That access can be suspended when the police judge the security risk critical or an event is high risk. Residents, businesses and tradespeople apply for permits, so for a delivery, hotel or house move, check the permitted approach with the destination and follow the actual turn signs.

The DVSA active station list records 50 authorised sites in the BA districts selected for this Bath page. Those districts are a search area, not a promise that every garage is inside Bath city. Look at the station postcode and the class it is authorised to test before booking. A motorcycle, car, light van or motorhome may require a different testing class and different access space.