M2 and M4 To Become ACE Equipped
60-Day Warning Period Begins April 28
Watch Committee Presentation on ACE program
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced two more bus routes will now be equipped with Automated Camera Enforcement (ACE). The 60-day warning period on the M2 and M4 bus routes in Manhattan will begin on April 28. Vehicles improperly using busways and bus lanes, blocking bus stops, or illegally double parked will receive warning notices in the mail for an initial period of 60 days followed by summonses thereafter. Summonses start at $50 and escalate to $250 for repeat violators.
These two routes are in addition to the 34 routes currently enforced. Over 1,000 buses are now ACE equipped covering 475 miles of routes. This is to the benefit of 700,000 customers.
Bus routes with ACE enforcement on average have increased speeds by 5% with some corridors seeing gains as high as 30%. ACE routes have also experienced a 20% reduction in collisions; and 5% to 10% estimated reduction in emissions. There has also been a 40% reduction in bus stops being blocked by vehicles on ACE routes. Only 9% of drivers commit a second bus lane violation after being fined.
The ACE program is administered in partnership with the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) and the New York City Department of Finance (NYCDOF). Once automatically captured by cameras on multiple buses, the resulting video, images, license plate information, location, and time stamp details are then securely transmitted to NYCDOT for review by City employees and processing thereafter.
Each corridor with active ACE camera enforcement has signage indicating that those routes are camera-enforced.