Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Release #14-33

Scott Gastel/Nicholas Mosquera (212) 839-4850

NYC DOT Announces Start of Camera Enforcement of Dedicated Bus Lanes Along Nostrand/Rogers/Bedford Avenues, Providing Faster and More Reliable Travel as Part Of B44 Select Bus Service

Restrictions on vehicular travel in bus-only lanes to be in effect between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday

The New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) today announced that camera enforcement of the bus-only lanes of the B44 Select Bus Service (SBS) route on Nostrand, Rogers and Bedford avenues will be in effect starting next week, increasing mobility and providing faster and more reliable service on this major Brooklyn corridor. The restrictions on passenger vehicle travel in the dedicated bus lanes will be in effect between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, with violations for unauthorized travel in the lanes resulting in $115 fines. To alert drivers, the agency installed signage on every block with a bus lane, “Bus Only” pavement markings at the beginning and end these blocks and additional “Bus Lanes Photo Enforced” signage at regular intervals along the corridor. When enforcement is in effect, drivers on the route will be permitted to expeditiously pick up and drop off passengers at the curb; make the next available right turn; enter the bus-only lane to park at the curb where the lane is off-set; and to avoid any emergency vehicles. Since 2009, several SBS routes have been equipped with bus lane cameras, including Fordham Road in the Bronx, First and Second avenues in Manhattan and Hylan Boulevard in Staten Island, among others. This enforcement against unauthorized travel in the bus-only lanes has been an important component in the travel time and reliability improvements for SBS routes in the city.

Launched in November, the B44 is the city’s sixth SBS route, serving 40,000 daily passengers along the 9.3-mile route on Nostrand, Rogers and Bedford avenues, one of Brooklyn’s major north-south corridors. SBS along this busy line also incorporates sidewalk extensions with on-street fare collection machines that allow passengers to pay before they board, transit signal priority to reduce travel times and improved passenger information with new wayfinding panels displaying neighborhood maps and screens for planned displays of real time bus arrival information. SBS enhancements along the B44 line are expected to reduce travel times by up to 20 percent, in line with results from the five earlier SBS routes, cutting 14 minutes off the 71-minute trip between Sheepshead Bay and Williamsburg, and increasing as additional treatments are installed along the route. For more information on the B44 SBS and all DOT projects, visit nyc.gov/dot.

—30—