Monday, November 22, 2010
City will now bust your ass if you stop in the bus lane
Via CBS New York: Starting today, if you’re caught on camera in a First and Second Avenue bus lane during restricted hours, you can be fined by mail for between $115 and $150. You’re also not allowed to off-load anything in the lanes during posted hours.
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Yeah, I love how they implement this law. There's no written rule about where a vehicle may enter the bus lane in order to make a right turn. The unwritten rule on the 5th avenue lane was that the cops would give you at least 1 block distance.
These cameras aren't like the red light cameras that trigger automatically when the signal turns, rather they're active cameras that are monitored by a live human sitting in a control room. Therefore, it's totally at the discretion of the monitoring company. What proof are they going to use to substantiate their claims ? Will we get direct video evidence when we have to go to court after getting a summons when all we want to do is turn off of the avenue ?
It seems to me that this is all open to interpretation, and will be rife with injustice.
Oh... BTW, what enforcement methods will be used to keep cyclists out of the lanes ? They don't carry license plates so they can be mailed tickets, and they are barred from the lanes, just as vehicles are.
(I think I just had another "fuck you Mike Bloomberg" moment)
So does that mean a cab can't pick me up on the bus lane side of the street? What if that's where all the available cabs are and I don't want to cross the street? What if picking me up elsewhere would require dangerous lane-swerving by the cabbie? Bloomberg, I fucking hate you.
man, I love how people start to rant before even checking on the facts.
if you bothered to read the linked article or the MTA website on this topic you would see the following:
a: cabs are allowed to drop off and pick up passengers, but can't stop for an extended period
b: you are allowed to enter the bus lane in a car within one block of where you might be making a right turn without being ticketed (so make sure you use your turn signals to not be mistaken for someone not turning)
c: bikes in the bus lane tend to move out of the way and don't cause delays in service, therefor they are not the subject of the enforcement at this time
disagree with it if you want to but please, don't invent facts to back up your argument.
What they said was that you CAN drop off and pick up passengers in bus lanes--it must be done quickly--no stopping and waiting.
Vehicles ARE permitted in bus land to make next available right turn.
HippieChick: Relax.Vehicles may enter the lane to pickup and drop off passengers, despite what the article says.
see, and yes, thank you all commentors for shedding and not shedding light on this.
I once had a lady yell at me in stuy-town for riding my bike in the bus lane, sheesh relax lady, i'll get out of the way when a bus is within a block.
and sheesh that pick-up drop off thing. it seems that it is completely legal for taxis only to make pick-ups and drop-offs, but no waiting, it all seems rather hazy, and i'd rather not be subject to fines, meanwhile on the left side with the bike lane there is no where to pull over, I guess i'll have to experiment with the bus lane and see if I get the ticket. I probably won't because it is completely legal.
as for turns, it is very clearly indicated where your turning lanes begin and end, don't begin entering to turn until the bus lane is no longer red, and the sold line becomes a dotted line.
still I find it very annoying that the press releases all make it sound like there is no occupying the lane at all, when pick-ups and drop-offs are completely fine. eh, but that is the press for you, always getting it wrong.
if vehicles can drop off passengers in the bus lane, why did the policeman (after blocking a bus for at least 1 1/2 blocks) ticket a poor taxi driver while he assisted two old, hardly able to walk passengers from his vehicle at a beth israel facility on second avenue?
there was no way these guys could get to the sidewalk from around the corner or from the pedestrian crossing at street corners.
If you don't enforce it, then everyone will ignore it.
This is yet another reason I'm leaving the city. Big Brother watching my ass everywhere I turn. Cop cameras, traffic cameras, bus ticket cameras, surveillance cameras. Nobody trusts anyone.
Fuck this, and thanks a lot, Osama.
Question:
What if you LIVE on the same side of the street as a bus lane, as I do?
We often load and unload before and after weekends. Tomorrow, we're off for the holiday with tons to pack into a car...what then?
Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks.
Awww, poor little you-- you have to trudge your stuff to the car visit the people who will leave you an inheritance ...
A lot of people will be dragging their stuff thru Amtrak, so no, no feel sorry for you... boo hoo.
I was on the downtown bus Second Avenue line this past Sunday night. There were at least 3 transit people at every stop along the way and the bus drivers would connect with them via phone along the way and the driver would stop for a period of a minute or two to let the Select buses through.Was wondering what was going on.
To My good friend ShutUpHooker -
Does owning a car make me a bad person? Does everyone you know with a car have an inheritance waiting for them? I am no stranger to Amtrak and other means, but I don't think anyone with a residence or business on these streets should be penalized. If I want to load stuff quickly into my house, I should be able to. I'll give you a more universal example: what if I were moving in or moving out? If you don't agree, what about the many bars on Second Ave.? How can they take beer deliveries of kegs (these are not quick deliveries). I'm not saying I am in love w all the many bars on the block...but they do have a lease to do business there, like it or not?
I love the attitude of the new generation that ASSumes that everyone is 20 something and is capable of moving about easily and don't need vehicles to get from place to place.
Last I checked, America was a free country and as a taxpaying citizen I have the right to own a car and use it.
If this generation wants to legislate a fascistic state into existence where only the hearty and healthy have the right to travel freely, then I suggest they read about the American Revolution. Don't expect everyone else to surrender meekly.
It's time to show some respect.
Regarding loading/unloading on weekends:
The curbside bus lane on 2nd Avenue is only in effect during rush hours on weekdays. If you live on 2nd, then you have all weekend to load or unload your car.
On 1st Avenue, the bus lane is offset from the curb. So, unless you're double-parking, you won't get hit with a fine. And if you are double-parking, well, that was illegal to begin with.
Well, tell it to the cab drivers, then, since numerous times now I've been refused a pick-up in the bus lane. They all claim they'll get ticketed if they do.
Anon: Define "vehicle." A bus is a vehicle. The elderly and disabled use surface buses in much higher numbers than the subway. Don't they have a right to be transported to their destination as quickly as the subway? SBS service has already resulted in 15-20 minute time savings vs. the M15 Limited thanks to the bus lanes.
I don't have any problem with anyone owning a car. What I have a problem with is car owners who have a sense of entitlement to use all street space in New York City as they see fit (and then erroneously suggest their payment of the gas tax or tolls entitles them to that right, when not a penny of gas taxes or tolls fund the NYCDOT).
I pay exactly the same sales, income, and property taxes to fund that street as you do. Why don't I, as a "taxpaying citizen," have a right to use a portion of that street for something other than a car?
@Chris; Yawn.
I just bought a new SUV. Pedal away pal.
Anon: Don't really ride a bike that much, except for exercise on nice days. But I do take the M15, and I appreciate that 1st Avenue no longer sounds like a motor speedway at all hours of the day and night. Enjoy your SUV and your road rage, pal!
sometimes these comments are too full of intolerance. it is not us against them. right now we are all us
nothing is working correctly and we all suffer from it.
people with cars shouldn't be punished and have to schlep their belongings just because they have a car. and to sneer at a delivery person because they might have to walk their large loads a whole block (as if it were nothing) punishes already overworked employees.
being able to afford a car does not make you a bad person. having money in and of itself is not a personality deficit.
attitude and disrespect for others is the problem and it crosses all genders, religions, ages, incomes, capacities, etc. if you are a disrespectful rude person you are a big part of the problems. and the cause is dot that poorly planned the new lanes and buses. get on a local, it's filled with confused seniors and folks with children.
every driver i ask about getting a transfer for a select bus from a crosstown bus says "i don't know". there are never any folks to help and many times the ticket machines are broken.
and don't be fooled by being told you are allowed to pick up or deliver at a curb in a bus lane - YOU CAN'T.
a friend waited for a policeman to walk to her car so she could tell him she was waiting for her mother with a walker. he gave her a ticket. she could have driven around the block and come back rather then wait, and her mother would have had to wait for her to get back.
we have forgotten that it is people that make this city what it is and if treated courteously most people are considerate of each other.
i say most.
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