Traffic cams to be installed along B44 route

March 28, 2014 Heather Chin
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Hot on the heels of successfully lobbying for two more Select Bus Service (SBS) stops along the B44 Nostrand Avenue bus route, residents of Midwood, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens and Bedford-Stuyvesant have received some more bus-related news: the arrival of traffic cameras along the route’s Bus-Only lanes.

“I think it’s a good thing, especially during rush hour, when it will allow the buses through and prevent people from trespassing in those lanes,” said community advocates Rickie Tulloch. “If [drivers] know they could possibly get tickets, they will probably stay out [and] be less likely to run the lights.”

Traffic cameras are being installed and will be in effect as of this week, every weekday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., announced the city Department of Transportation (DOT), which described the cameras as a way to “increas[e] mobility and provid[e] faster and more reliable service on this major Brooklyn corridor.”

Affected stretches are the “Bus Only” lanes along Nostrand, Rogers and Bedford Avenues. Signs are being added at “regular intervals” along all relevant blocks, stating “Bus Lanes Photo Enforced.”

For drivers, this means that from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, you can only enter the Bus-Only lane to park when the lane is off-set. Otherwise, the standard driving rules apply, except requiring more alertness. According to the DOT, drivers are “permitted to expeditiously pick up and drop off passengers at the curb, make the next available right turn, [and] avoid any emergency vehicles.

Violators face fines of up to $115.

Although Tulloch said he thinks the traffic cameras will help traffic overall, he noted at least one potential problem: double-parking along the two-lane portions of Nostrand and Rogers Avenue often pushes drivers into bus-only lanes.

“If they have to go over into the bus lane, then what happens,” Tulloch asked. “It would be somewhat unfair for people to get tickets [in those instances].”

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