Cyclist Counts 21 Vehicles Parked In East Side Bus Lane

KIPS BAY, NY — A Kips Bay resident caught nearly two dozen trucks and other vehicles blocking bus lanes between 14th and 34th Sts. along First and Second Aves. on Valentine's Day.

Rich Mintz took to his "trusty horse," or bicycle, starting at First Ave. and E. 23rd St. to document bus-lane-blockers on the East side avenue at the request of Community Board 6, of which he is a member.

Along First and Second Aves., Mintz found 21 vehicles blocking the bus lanes — just one of those was ticketed, he tweeted.

"On the east side, we're heavily dependent on buses because the subway doesn't operate east of Lexington Avenue north-south, so we use the M15 SBS [and the] the M101, 102, 103 buses as our north-south transit," Mintz said. "Those services depend on enforcement of the infrastructure that was built to speed them along."

Much of First Ave. was clear that morning, except for two violators between 14th and 16th Sts., Mintz found.

At E 32 St, a double! Thanks, @UPS, that’s 50 points. pic.twitter.com/6cpAxKBqdA
— Rich Mintz (@richmintz) February 14, 2019

But when he cycled southbound on Second Avenue, bus lanes were blocked with construction equipment, an ambulance, two UPS trucks, a garbage truck for Manhattan's 10th district parked and unattended, a parked school bus, several vehicles with placards, and other apparent bus lane blockers.

At E 27 St, a DSNY truck parked in the bus lane for no particular reason. Locked and unattended. pic.twitter.com/rWynl2awZe
— Rich Mintz (@richmintz) February 14, 2019

Mintz ended his Valentine's tour in front of Stuyvesant Town, where he tweeted that he saw an NYPD officer parked in the bus lane walking into a Dunkin' Donuts.

I’m going to end today’s tour here, in front of the Stuy Town leasing office, where a NYPD officer just parked in the bus lane and walked into a Dunkin Donuts. I’ll have a summary for you (and Manhattan CB6) later today. pic.twitter.com/YXBCpwd51J
— Rich Mintz (@richmintz) February 14, 2019

Mintz reported back to the board that he counted 21 vehicles blocking bus lanes, a majority in the 13th Precinct. His count found eight private, four commercial, six police or city, and three other types of vehicles. Nine had placards, and just one was ticketed.

The bus lanes are in effect 24/7 on First Ave., a Department of Transportation spokesperson confirmed. The Second Ave. bus lanes are in effect 7 to 10 a.m. and 2 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Mintz' documentation was on Thursday around 8 a.m.

When reached for comment, NYPD said its placard unit launched in 2017 resulted in over 54,000 placard-related summonses last year, according to a police spokesperson.

The DOT pointed to recent efforts by the city to improve bus speed, which Board 6 unanimously passed a resolution to support this week.

Nearly a year ago, the DOT added bus lane enforcement cameras along First and Second Aves. M15 SBS corridors as well as additional signage of when bus lanes are expected to be clear.

Though per Mintz' Valentine's tour of the avenues, cameras aren't stopping violators from slowing buses down in Board 6's district.

The Bus Turnaround Coalition, a coalition of transit groups, have previously found the average speed of buses in CB 6's district to average 4.6 miles per hour. The highest ridership in the district is the M15, with nearly 45,000 daily riders on local and SBS service, according to the coalition's analysis. The routes Mintz' mentioned all had 'D' or 'F' ratings, according to 2017 data the coalition compiled. The M15 SBS traveled 6.4 miles-per-hour, slower than Midtown car traffic.

Board 6 passed a resolution this week supporting several recent announcements from the city to improve bus service as well as proposals from transit advocates to add all-door boarding, install transit signal priority, Mayor Bill de Blasio's recent plan to crackdown on bus lane violators, among other improvements. In January, de Blasio announced he would launch seven NYPD tow teams to increase bus speeds by 25 percent by 2020.

"Buses are a critical link in our public transportation system, but too often they are painfully slow," de Blasio said in a statement. "I hope all New Yorkers get the message that we have to keep bus lanes clear to get people moving and to work on time."

Image credit: Rich Mintz Image caption: A vehicle blocking a bus lane on Second Ave. between 14th and 34th Sts. on Feb. 14, 2019.