Bus Lane Camera Violations Active For Q52/Q53 Routes: DOT

QUEENS, NY -- Months after launching its Select Bus Service along Woodhaven Boulevard and Cross Bay Boulevard in Queens, the Department of Transportation has activated cameras to catch cars that loiter in it.

The DOT announced on Monday evening that it will start issuing bus lane camera violations along the Q52/Q53 bus route that extends up and down the borough, with stops from Queens Boulevard to Rockaway Peninsula.

The Bus Lane Camera Program, which is already enforced along 11 routes citywide, films vehicles that drive, park or stand in bus lanes, according to the City of New York. Vehicles filmed doing any one of those things will get a Notice of Liability - aka, a big fat ticket - in the mail.

But not to worry, the violations are pinned to the loitering car - not the driver - so this ticket won't tack any points onto your license, just a fine. Each corridor also has signage that indicates what hours the bus lanes are operable - and warns you the cameras are watching - so you likely won't cruise into one by accident.

New York City buses carry around 2.5 million riders per day, according to the DOT. Camera enforcing bus lanes is meant to make sure buses can carry those riders safely and quickly to "keep New Yorkers moving," the department said in a release.

The DOT and MTA launched Q52/Q53 Select Bus Service on Woodhaven Boulevard and Cross Bay Boulevard last November, but state law required the DOT warn drivers along the route for at least 60 days before putting the cameras into effect to ensure they know about the program.

State law allows the city to expand its bus lane camera program to a total of 16 bus routes. The Q52/Q53 route is the second in Queens to receive the camera enforcements, joining the Q44 route along the Main Street-Sutphin Boulevard SBS corridor, according to the DOT.

More camera-enforced routes will be added over time to fill the remaining four routes allowed, the DOT said.

Lead photo by Seth Wenig/Associated Press.