Cities Are Building More Bus and Bike Lanes. The Challenge: Keeping Cars Out

Cities around the country are increasingly using automated traffic enforcement to keep dedicated bus and bike lanes clear of other vehicles, reports Dan Zukowski in Smart Cities Dive. “A March 2023 study from the Urban Institute found that priority bus lanes could increase access to jobs and reduce costs for the transit agency by enabling buses to move faster. But that’s only if the lanes are kept clear of passenger vehicles, delivery trucks and other lane violators.”

According to Zukowski, “Chicago and New York City plan to begin bus and bike lane enforcement this year using bus-mounted and fixed-location cameras,” Zukowski adds. Other cities, including Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. are using stationary cameras to cite bus and bike lane violations. In Philadelphia, a pilot program conducted last year caught over 4,000 violations per week.