MTA Starts Fining Drivers Caught Blocking 14th Street Bus Lanes

From CBS New York:

NEW YORK CITY – The grace period is over. Starting today, drivers who are caught on camera blocking the 14th Street bus lanes will be fined.

For months, there has been a focus on reducing cars on the road to turn the busy thoroughfare into a better commute for bus riders.

Only buses and trucks can drive up 14th Street between Third and Ninth avenues from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. Cars can make pick-ups and drop-offs but must take the next possible right turn.

Traffic agents and street cameras have already been enforcing these rules, but today drivers can expect bus-mounted cameras to do the same.

In November, the city’s Department of Transportation installed forward-facing cameras on M14 buses, issuing warnings to drivers standing or blocking the bus lanes on 14th Street. That grace period is now over and the warnings will turn to fines.

A first violation is $50, and fines increase $50 for each additional offense. Drivers can be fined up to $250 for five violations in a year.

The M14 bus route is the third route to have this mounted camera system. Cameras along the M15 and B44 routes are already catching drivers blocking lanes.

The MTA says 9,100 warnings and violations have been issued since October.

The goal is to improve performance on M14 buses.

The MTA said in December daytime trips were about six minutes faster than the year prior, and numbers show about 19% more people riding the M14 bus.

The agency plans to have this system deployed on 1,000 buses in every borough over the next two years.