City Council sends Albany a home-rule message on bus lane enforcement

The City Council has sent a home-rule bill to Albany requesting permission to implement camera enforcement measures in the city’s new bus lanes. While the State Senate has approved such a measure, the New York Assembly has yet to pick up the issue. If this sounds familiar, well, it’s because history is repeating itself. The bill, which passed by a 46-4 vote, will once again have to clear Sheldon Silver Assembly, and the last time a bus measure bill got this far, David Gantt killed it.

This year, however, things should be different. For starters, as I mentioned, the State Senate has already signed off on these measures, and the city and the MTA have ramped up bus lane expansion plans. Furthermore, Assembly Transportation Committee head Gantt has said he’s more amenable to a bill this time around. For the city to implement effective bus service, it needs this approval from the state. “Today’s home rule message sends a clear signal to the state legislature that expedient public transportation in bus lanes is a top priority for the city of New York,” Gale Brewer, a council sponsor of the bill, said. And now we wait while putting pressure on Albany.