NYC bus lane abusers beware, a new crackdown is underway and packing fines
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Bus lane abusers beware.
Authorities and the MTA are warning drivers that they are cracking down on vehicles constantly clogging the bus lanes in New York City.
Their focus Thursday morning was on 57th Street in Manhattan.
Transit authority officials say, "If you are not a bus then get out of those bright red bus lanes."
The crackdown will also include commercial vehicles making deliveries and not parking where they should or during approved hours.
The Crosstown bus crawls across midtown at just 4.5 miles per hour. They hope this initiative speeds things up.
The NYPD has 100 traffic agents now targeting the bus lanes and they were out issuing tickets.
"There are posted commercial times that commercial vehicles can deliver, right? We heard a lot of sob stories, I have to deliver a delivery, well you can at 10, it's 9. Some of the bus lanes around the five boroughs are specifically for rush hour, and that's ok, right, so that's one, just obey the rules. That gentleman in that instance had between 10 and 4, he was an hour early. You know, get out of the bus lane, come back at 10:01," said Richard Davey, Transit President. "You're asking about loading or unloading, that's ok, as long as it's actively loading, but I can tell you we saw very little of that, and we saw many sob stories of woulda, shoulda, coulda."
The new program launched on December 4. In just 10 days, they issued more than 1,200 summonses and towed 149 vehicles.
A ticket costs $115 and a tow is $185.
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