Today, New York City DOT officially announced its plan to bring Select Bus Service to First and Second Avenues. The plan, which will bring bus lanes to both avenues between 125th and Houston Streets, should speed travel times on the M15 (NYC’s second busiest bus route) by 20%. But one of the most important ingredients for success — tough enforcement that will keep bus lanes clear — may be missing if the NYC Council and State Legislature do not allow the city to use cameras to ticket violators who illegally park in the lanes.

As it stands, the city has promised to ramp up police enforcement of the lanes. But the NYPD has shrunk over the years, and isn’t getting any larger. The use of bus enforcement cameras requires approval from the state legislature, which will not grant it without passage of a “home rule” message from the City Council. The state legislative session ends on June 21, though special sessions could be called over the summer (they would be necessary if the state budget does not pass).

When the first phase of the street makeover is finished this October, it will include the bus lanes, three-door buses and off-board fare collection on the route, pedestrian refuge islands and separated bike lanes between Houston and 34th Streets, and upgrades to the First Avenue bike lane north of 72nd Street. Next year should bring bus signal priority and “additional pedestrian and bicycle improvements throughout the corridor.”

In a statement, Tri-State applauded the plan, saying it would “get buses moving and keep people safer.” The statement noted that, between 2006 and 2008, nine pedestrians were killed on First and Second Avenues, and called the separated bike lanes up to 34th Street “a vital first step towards bringing world-class cycling infrastructure to these busy avenues.”

How New Yorkers Can Help

New Yorkers can send letters to their state representatives in support of bus lane cameras through TSTC’s website.

Photo: TSTC.