Transit Lane Enforcement

[Overmod]

I know someone in Boise who has all the blueprints and IP for swap-body production.  We can easily tool to make these for various chassis combinations, so that they can be used for rental or lease and then with a simple no-tools conversion used for other 'desirable social purposes'.  White multiple-door units with three-level shackle attach points for FEMA.  Need I say too much more?

[Falcon48]

I like it.  Would you sell franchises?

[Overmod]

Actually, the Russians have a better answer -- a straight truck with a hydraulic grab crane.  Drives alongside, drops the curved grab through the roof, picks the car up and dumps it in the back, and carries on.

In this country we'd probably check for children in the back first.  

 

[Falcon48]

Just get a front end loader, tip the offending car out of the way on its roof and leave it there.  A few of those and the problem will be solved.

[Overmod]

But Russ is forgetting that one of the disastrous problems with tracked streetcars was... that any blockage, even slight, held the cars up completely until wholly remediated -- and that any cars following could not proceed either.  Perhaps he is suggesting that we pass 'don't block the box' legislation for streetcar lanes and then install massive penalty plows or claws to clear the routes 'with extreme prejudice' should any violation be observed.  (In typical New York tradition, with fines and charges billed to whoever they can manage...)

The point of the ABLE cameras is that they detect obstruction precisely at the point and time it matters: when a camera-equipped bus is actually blocked or impeded.  Use of cameras just to keep anyone out of the lane even for a moment all the time -- which used to be the way the bus lanes were enforced -- is pretty transparently a fee grab rather than traffic enhancement.

[daveklepper]

Comment by Russ Johnson:

One way to deal with this problem would be to install tracks and run streetcars.  Then there would be no question of where parking is absolutely not practical or permitted.  As the way it was done in earlier times by people who understood the business.  (now pretty much extinct in this part of the planet)  See attached.

 

https://billypenn.com/2023/10/12/septa-ai-technology-cars-blocking-bus-lanes-video/?mc_cid=aef54cfaf8&mc_eid=a4e6140c69

 

 

[daveklepper]

Third Activation of 2023, 19th Overall

NYCDOT to Issue Warning Notices to Violators for First 60 Days of Implementatio

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced the activationof automated bus lane enforcement (ABLE) cameras on the Q58 bus ir Queens, the second busiest bus route in the city last year. ABLE cameras capture

 

Drivers violating bus lane rules in real-time and is aimed at deterring motorists from blocking these lanes to improve bus service and reduce crashes. Average daily ridership on the Q58 is 28,700, as the route carried 6.7 million ridersby the end of 2022.

 

Based on May 2023 data, the average speed on the Q58 is 7.6 mph, 10 percent slower than the average Queens Local or Limited route. ABLE enforced routes have seen improvement of speeds of approximately 5 percent, with an average 20 percent decrease in collisions, and most motorists who receive a notice or violation are unlikely to become repeat offenders. Based on previous data collected, only 7 percent of drivers receive more than two summonses for violating the rules of a bus lane.

This is indicative of ABLE cameras’ effectiveness in influencing driver behavior”  Additionally, since implementation in October 2019, New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) has issued 269,000 violations. As the program expanded to more routes, 84,000 violations have been issued between January and May 2023, making up for about a third of the total in just five months. With the activation on this route, the MTA will have 555 buses equipped with ABLE cameras on 19 routes across Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and Queens. Locations were determined to maximize the length of bus lanes covered, balance distribution between boroughs, address some of the newer bus lanes, and incorporate input from the MTA and NYCDOT on known locations with issues.

Upon implementation of ABLE cameras on the Q58, NYCDOT will issue warning notices to motorists for the first 60 days, in accordance with State law, to ensure drivers are informed about the program before any fines are levied. Each bus lane corridor with ABLE camera coverage has signage indicating the hours that the bus lanes are operable and advises drivers that the lanes are camera-enforced. Drivers who violate these rules during enforcement periods are subject to a summons, with fines beginning at $50 and escalating, for repeat offenders, up to $250.