MTA may equip buses with cameras to catch drivers hogging the bus lanes

[Harry]

MTA chairman Jay Walder wants to equip buses with dashboard cameras to catch cars hogging bus-only lanes so drivers can be fined.

 

In an exclusive interview in London last week, Walder told the Daily News that enforcement cameras in that city, where he was a transit and management executive for eight years, effectively kept traffic out of bus-only lanes.

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/10/07/2009-10-07_bus_cameras_may_spy_on_drivers.html#ixzz0TFL0VvS1

[Cait Sith]

YES!!!! I've preached this alot of times before. This is needed very badly, especially at 34th Street....

[Infamous85]

Its about time.

 

It looks like they're in Europe in that pic.

[metsfan]

Either paris or london. And i agree, good plan.

 

- A

[Messino]

Its not for people hoggin BUS lanes, thats just an excuse to equip them with cameras and with the cost its not going to happen. Fines issued when there is no officer present and the only evidence is a camera cant be enforced just like the red like cameras. They cant force you to pay those tickets and they cant suspend your license for not paying either.

[Zman]

Either paris or london. And i agree, good plan.

 

Ok, I have to ask this. Why would you think that Paris, France would have the words BUS LANE in English written in the middle of the road?

[MAA89]

If I am not wrong, I see a small car in the bus lane in the background behind Jay Wilder.

 

Anyway, bus lanes would be very welcome for express bus service. The express designation seems to be applied only to distinguish it from local service, otherwise there is nothing express about it. I took the QM17 home one day, and it was already 12 minutes behind schedule at its last stop in Manhattan. Then we crawled along a narrow two-lane segment of the Queens-Midtown Expressway, eventually turning what I thought would be a 55 minute ride home into an hour and 17 minutes. For $5.50, a service that ends up being 20+ minutes late is a poor reflection of the state of matters.

 

Question is, how will all the motorists from Long Island react if the city were to designate bus-only lanes on the highway? In fact, can the city even do that on a federal/state highway? If not, the prospects of a successful BRT system and the widespread use of express buses seems doomed to fail. (I am certain that, like congestion pricing, any attempts at creating bus lanes will fail, or not even be considered, in Albany).

 

As for Manhattan, I find buses always arrive on time (as printed on the schedule) whenever I take them. The problem is how slow they are: one time it took me 35 minutes to get from 103rd to 72nd St on the M10 (I can walk faster than that). The problem is mainly old people who take a long time to get on and off, and may need the wheelchair ramp, tourists who have no idea how to use a MetroCard, and generally too many stops on some local routes. I do not see how bus lanes will alleviate the pain of a bus that stops every 1.5 blocks and has to pick up 70-something year olds, tourists, and worse, 70-something year old tourists.

 

(I am not suggesting discriminating against elderly people in any way. Fact remains, though, that with the demographics of the riders, some bus routes just could not get any faster, with or without bus lanes).

[7LineFan]

Its not for people hoggin BUS lanes, thats just an excuse to equip them with cameras and with the cost its not going to happen. Fines issued when there is no officer present and the only evidence is a camera cant be enforced just like the red like cameras. They cant force you to pay those tickets and they cant suspend your license for not paying either.

 

They get the license plate number and fine you that way. And photographic evidence is just as good as a police officer actually ticketing the person.

 

EDIT: If you guys click the link, you will see the caption say that the picture was taken in London.

[mark1447]

Sounds like a good idea! Especially the Bx12 BRT is always blocked by cars parked in the damn BUS ONLY lane which drives me nuts when its a BUS RAPID TRANSIT, not a regular Local bus! Always an issue from Belmont Ave to Grand Concourse on Fordham..

 

I wish 125th Street gets a Bus Lane its always crowded with cars and trucks.. From 125th/St. Nicholas to 2nd Avenue causing delays on Bx15, M60, M100, M101 crosstown buses..

 

BTW do they mean install them outside of the bus or what? I'm confused a bit on the Dashboard camera

[metsfan]

Ok, I have to ask this. Why would you think that Paris, France would have the words BUS LANE in English written in the middle of the road?

 

Some cities have english and native language on roads and such. Since england & france are linked by rail with car carrier service....

 

- A

[SevenEleven]

It's about time. It's like everyone doesn't see the bus lane and they know that they're not supposed to use them like that. The traffic patrol and cops aren't doing anything either.

 

I would definitely suppose this just to get drivers to clean up and to respect the bus lane.

[Olegkha]

Its not for people hoggin BUS lanes, thats just an excuse to equip them with cameras and with the cost its not going to happen. Fines issued when there is no officer present and the only evidence is a camera cant be enforced just like the red like cameras. They cant force you to pay those tickets and they cant suspend your license for not paying either.

 

You sure about that ?

Go run a red light where the camera is, and wait couple of month. Then ask a cop to run your plate, and what do you know !!!! its suspended

[Y2Julio]

Its not for people hoggin BUS lanes, thats just an excuse to equip them with cameras and with the cost its not going to happen. Fines issued when there is no officer present and the only evidence is a camera cant be enforced just like the red like cameras. They cant force you to pay those tickets and they cant suspend your license for not paying either.

Yes they can. I hope you actually haven't been running the red light and ignoring the tickets you get.