My travels on the B11 and B63 bus lines

The New York City Transit system, working  in tandem with the NYC Department of Transportation, recently added bus windshield cameras to prevent motorists from clogging bus stops and bus lanes. And what a dramatic difference it has made for two area bus routes.

The  B11 runs from 58th Street and Second Avenue in Sunset Park to Nostrand Avenue in Midwood, and the B63 runs from Shore Road and Third Avenue along Fifth Avenue to Atlantic Avenue in Cobble Hill. I rode both buses this past week and they sped along without encountering double-parked vehicles or vehicles illegally parked in bus stops.

Under the Automated Camera Enforcement (ACE) program, motorists caught by the bus-mounted cameras will receive summonses. According to the MTA, if a vehicle has more than one camera-detected violation within a 12-month period, the driver must pay $50 for the first offense, $100 for the second, $150 for the third, $200 for the fourth and $250 for each additional offense. 

Some motorists are already wondering if they will get a violation for pulling into or out of a valid parking space or when they drop someone off or pick them up at a bus stop. They also want to know whether it will affect delivery services to their homes by vendors like UPS, Federal Express and Amazon.

I am sure many will miss the past opportunity to double park briefly to pick up a prescription from a pharmacy, or maybe a package from a local store. On the city’s Dept. of Finance web page, they offer possible defenses for bus lane violation hearings. They include:

• Your evidence shows that some condition on the roadway prevented you from making an immediate right turn — for example, it was not safe or legal to do so.

• The conditions existing on the roadway left you with no other option but to enter and stay in the bus lane.

• You were complying with the direction of law enforcement personnel.

• You have evidence of a sudden mechanical breakdown or unexpected medical emergency that necessitated your parking in the bus lane.

• You have evidence of temporarily stopping to expeditiously pick up or drop off passengers at the curbside

With the success of the ACE program, it won’t be too long before other MTA bus lines serving southwest Brooklyn, like the B8, B9, B64, B37 and B16, get bus cameras.

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In celebration of America’s 250th anniversary and the coming of President George Washington’s birthday on Feb. 22, the Friends of Historic New Utrecht are bringing back historian and reenactor Michael Gallo as Gen. Washington, who was the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783. If Washington were alive today he would be 294 years old! 

This commemoration will take place on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 2 p.m. in the parish hall of the New Utrecht Reformed Church, 1831 84th St.

Gallo, a former longtime Bay Ridge resident, has appeared as Washington at local events at New Utrecht High School, the Old Stone House and Washington Park and Green-Wood Cemetery.