MTA Chair Urges Albany To Allow Cameras On Bus Lanes

Still from a StreetsBlog video on blocked bus lanes

Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Jay Walder is pushing the State Assembly to draft legislation that will allow him to install cameras in bus lanes to keep cars from obstructing the mass transit paths. Like the stop light cameras used to ID drivers who run red lights, the proposed program aims to clear the way for buses by cracking down on motorists who turn bus lanes into parking lanes, according to NY1.

"I simply don't think that the MTA ever made bus lane cameras a priority. In fact, I don't think the MTA has made buses a priority quite the way that we're doing today," said Walder. "One of the things that I've tried to say from day one is that buses are an under-utilized, untapped resource in New York. We can do much more with it, and we're making it our priority to do that." But the proposal is getting stuck in traffic in Albany, where legislators have concerns about the cameras compromising New Yorkers' right to privacy. "The Assembly, the legislature, has gotten over those issues with red light cameras," he added. "There's no reason why we can't get over those issues with the bus lane enforcement cameras."

This isn't the first time that Walder has called out bus lane blockers. He has already demanded the installation of cameras to keep cabs from parking in express bus lanes — causing the purportedly high-speed routes to not live up to their name.

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By Ben Muessig in News on January 8, 2010 11:20 AM

Comments [rss]

Think2wice

Why is Jay Walder optimistic that it'll happen now? Won't it have to go through the same channels that killed the bus-camera bill the last time?

Spirit of 76

Easy solution to the "privacy" issue. Just put hard masks in front of each camera lens so it can see only the bus lane and nothing else -- nothing in regular traffic lanes and nothing on the sidewalk. Your right to privacy ends when you break the law by entering the bus lane.

youngpro

This just in: It's 2016, the MTA has just completed the camera project, and reports that it's $700,000,000 over budget and several years late. They will now ask for a another bailout.

glob

OK I will be the first to say it, after all this is Gothamist.

Bla bla bla... bike lanes... bla bla bla.

CR

This is a no-brainer and they should enact this ASAP. At the Port Authority you are no longer allowed to purchase a ticket for NJ Transit on the bus itself - you must buy it in advance from an agent or machine. Speeds up the process of boarding the bus and cuts down on emissions. Great move. Next up: you should only be allowed to exit the bus by the back door, never the front.

DarkGemini

On the enter in front, exit in rear, this should remain at the discretion of the bus driver. No need to make an old lady with a walker in the front hobble to the rear of the bus to disembark. If anything, that will slow things more.

On the cameras on the bus, yes with one condition:

Don't let a private entity own and operate the cameras. These need to be solely owned and operated by the MTA.

This is my biggest gripe about red light and speed cameras. They're all privately owned and operated, and as such a share of any revenue collected from them goes straight back to the owner. As irked as I am with the city using them to generate revenue more so that increase safety, I'm even more upset at the notion that a private company profits from this as well. These fines are in place to generate revenue for the city, not for the city and some company.