BY DENNIS LYNCH | Last week the city stepped up bus-only lane enforcement on 23rd St. and began to fine to drivers that block the Select Bus Service (SBS) bus-only lane. But a crosstown ride on the M23 SBS suggests that’s not enough to deter drivers from parking in the lane, particularly delivery truck drivers who need to unload their goods along the thoroughfare.
The fines range from $115 to $150 for “driving, parking, or standing” in a bus lane during hours of operation. The bus lanes on 23rd St. have cameras at regular intervals to catch violating motorists — they record a short video of the offense, which you can view online at violationinfo.com, and the city mails you a ticket. The city was only handing out warnings to drivers until last week so they would acclimate to the SBS, which started operating in November.
There were two delivery trucks parked in the westbound bus lane between First and Second Ave., on Fri., Jan. 13 around 11:00 a.m. An M23 driver said with a shrug that this was normal, but that the trucks don’t typically slow him down.
“It would be easier though if they weren’t there,” he said. “They’re not supposed to, but they still do — if the cops don’t care, there’s not much I can do.”
The police can also hand out tickets to offending drivers, although Chelsea Now did not spot any handing tickets to those offending trucks.
A spokesperson for the city Department of Transportation said that 1,838 bus lane camera violations have been handed out since Jan. 1, and 669,698 since they started the program in 2010 — but that a count for the number of violations specific to the M23 SBS route was not available. Based on those figures, violations have netted the city between $211,000 and $275,700 so far this year.
Most of 23rd St. was relatively quiet on the morning of Jan. 13, apart from the usual hubbub around Fifth and Sixth Aves. — so bus drivers swung past the trucks unloading without incident. It took 34 minutes to cross the city from First Ave. to the M23’s westernmost stop at Chelsea Piers.
On the eastbound ride back across the city, we spotted a handful of non-municipal traffic cones in the bus-only lane surrounding what appeared to be a film set trailer, again forcing the articulated M23 SBS into the regular travel lane.
A truck driver parked in the lane between Seventh and Eighth Aves. to unload some lumber at a construction site on Wed., Jan. 18 said he didn’t know the city was now handing out fines for bus-only lane violations. Working on 23rd St. was generally “a pain in the a**” — and the lack of parking forced him to set up shop in the bus-only lane, he said.
“Its hard; if I show up around 7 [a.m.] I can get a spot, but if I show up after 9 [a.m.], its impossible,” he said.
The bus-only route is in effect daily on 23rd St. between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., outside of which delivery drivers and cars can legally stand in the lane to unload merchandise or to pick up a passenger, for example.
On Jan. 13, a handful of people needed assistance getting tickets from the off-board SBS ticketing system, but overall boarding was far smoother than our last trip on the M23 SBS a week after it debuted in November. Regular riders have largely adjusted to the new scheme.
Riders buy their tickets at each stop at machines similar to MetroCard vending machines, except they spit out a receipt to show the driver instead of a MetroCard. Each receipt is good for a one-way trip. They cost the same as a ride on the subway and are free for unlimited card users.
The M23 SBS route is identical to the old M23 route, although the MTA removed two stops near Madison Square Park between Broadway and Madison Ave. and at the intersection of Lexington Ave. because they were too close to other stops.
