2023 New York Laws › VAT - Vehicle and Traffic › Title 8 - Respective Powers of State and Local Authorities › Article 39 - Regulation of Traffic by Cities and Villages › 1642-A - Bus Permit System in Cities Having a Population of One Million or More.

§  1642-a.  Bus  permit  system  in  cities having a population of one
million or more. 1. For the purposes  of  this  section,  the  following
terms shall have the following meanings:
a.  "Charter  bus"  shall  mean  a  bus  transporting  passengers  for
compensation in chartered party.
b. "Chartered party" shall mean a group of persons who, pursuant to  a
common  purpose  and under a single contract and at a fixed charge, have
acquired exclusive use of a bus to travel  together  as  a  group  to  a
specific destination or for a particular itinerary either agreed upon in
advance or modified after having left the place of origin by such group.
c.  "Community  board"  shall  mean  a  community  board as defined in
section twenty-eight hundred of the New York city charter.
d. "Intercity bus" shall mean a bus that transports the general public
between a city having a population  of  one  million  or  more  and  any
location  outside  of  such  city  in  scheduled  bus service. Provided,
however, that such term shall  not  include  a  school  bus;  or  a  bus
providing public transportation; or a charter bus.
e.  "Metropolitan transportation authority" shall mean the corporation
created by section twelve hundred sixty-three of the public  authorities
law.
f. "Public transportation" shall mean:
(i) mass transportation services provided to the general public by any
public benefit corporation constituting a transportation authority, or a
subsidiary thereof, or any public transportation corporation constituted
as  an  instrumentality of a state, or a subsidiary thereof, directly or
through a contact with another entity, or
(ii) mass transportation services provided to the  general  public  by
any  county,  city,  town or village directly or through a contract with
another entity pursuant to section one hundred nineteen-r of the general
municipal law, or provided to the general public by another state or any
county, city, town or village in a state other than New York directly or
through a contract with another entity pursuant to a similar law of such
other state.
2. Notwithstanding any provision of law  to  the  contrary,  any  city
having  a population of one million or more may prohibit intercity buses
from loading or unloading passengers on streets within such city  except
on  designated  streets  and  at  designated  locations  on such streets
pursuant to a permit in accordance with the provisions of this section.
3. The mayor of such city which acts pursuant to  subdivision  two  of
this  section shall designate an agency to promulgate rules to implement
this section. Such city agency shall promulgate such rules  which  shall
comply  with chapter forty-five of the New York city charter including a
public hearing. Such rules shall:
a.  Establish  a  system  of  permits  for  allocating  locations   on
designated streets where intercity buses may load and unload passengers,
and  prohibit  loading  and  unloading  of passengers other than at such
designated locations on such designated streets pursuant to a permit;
b. Require the owner or operator of an  intercity  bus  to  submit  an
application  for  a  permit  for  each proposed location for loading and
unloading of passengers. Such application shall  include  the  following
information:
(i)  The  name,  address,  telephone  number, e-mail address and motor
carrier number of the intercity bus owner or operator, the United States
department of transportation number and/or New York state department  of
transportation  number  for  each  bus  that  would  use  such  proposed
location;
(ii) A proposed location or locations to  be  used  by  the  specified
intercity  buses  for  loading  or unloading passengers, and two or more
alternative proposed locations;
(iii)  The  number  of  intercity  buses  that  would use the proposed
location or locations;
(iv) The number of passengers anticipated for each such intercity bus;
(v) The proposed intercity bus schedule;
(vi) The planned garage or parking location  of  the  intercity  buses
during periods when such buses are not being used; and
(vii)  Any  other  information deemed necessary by the commissioner of
the city agency designated pursuant to this subdivision.
c. Establish criteria for assigning locations  to  permit  applicants,
which  shall  include traffic and safety considerations, the preferences
of the  applicant,  consultation  with  the  local  community  board  as
provided  in  paragraph  b of subdivision four of this section and other
criteria deemed appropriate by the commissioner of such city agency;
d. Provide that such permit shall be issued for a term of up to  three
years,  except that such city may relocate a designated location for the
loading and unloading of passengers by an  intercity  bus,  upon  ninety
days  notice  to  the holder of a permit and after consultation with the
local community board as provided in paragraph b of subdivision four  of
this  section,  pursuant  to the criteria established in accordance with
paragraph c of this subdivision;
e. Include criteria under which  intercity  bus  owners  or  operators
assigned  a  designated  location  for  loading and unloading passengers
prior to the effective date of this section shall be issued a permit  to
use  such  location  for  the  loading and unloading of passengers for a
period of up to three years from the effective date of this section;
f. Establish  a  timeframe  of  up  to  one  hundred  fifty  days  for
determinations  on  permit applications, and a process for reviewing the
determination on the application;
g. Require intercity bus owners  or  operators  to  notify  such  city
agency of changes to information provided in such permit application;
h.  Require intercity bus owners or operators to prominently display a
copy of the permit in each intercity bus;
i. Require the posting of all approved applications on a  website  for
public access by such city agency within thirty days of approval;
j.  Include  such  other requirements as are deemed appropriate by the
commissioner of such city agency;
k. Set forth a schedule of fines or civil penalties for violations  of
the  rules  by  owners  or  operators  of intercity buses, including for
loading or unloading passengers on a city street without a permit or for
failure to comply with any permit requirements or restrictions, provided
that such fines or civil penalties shall not be more than  one  thousand
dollars  for  a  first violation, and not be more than two thousand five
hundred dollars for a second or subsequent violation within two years of
the first violation; and
1. Provide for the suspension or revocation of a permit for failure to
comply with any permit requirements or restrictions.
Such rules also may provide for the imposition of an  annual  fee  for
such  permit to cover administrative expenses, not to exceed two hundred
seventy-five dollars per vehicle.
4. The city agency designated pursuant to subdivision  three  of  this
section to promulgate rules shall:
a.  Have  the  authority  to designate streets and locations where the
loading  or  unloading  of  passengers  by  intercity  buses  shall   be
permitted;
b.   Consult   with   the  local  community  board  for  the  district
encompassing the location to be designated in a  permit,  including  but
not  limited to a notice and comment period of forty-five days, prior to
the issuance or permanent amendment of such permit;
c.  Consult  with  the  metropolitan  transportation  authority when a
proposed location  or  relocation  for  the  loading  and  unloading  of
passengers   by   an  intercity  bus  would  overlap  with  an  existing
metropolitan transportation authority bus stop;
d. Consult with the port authority of New York and New Jersey  when  a
proposed  location  or  relocation  for  the  loading  and  unloading of
passengers by an intercity bus  would  overlap  with  an  existing  port
authority of New York and New Jersey bus facility.
e.  Post  all  locations  designated  for the loading and unloading of
passengers by intercity bus on a website for public access within thirty
days of approval; and
f. Have the authority to temporarily amend any approved location for a
period of up to ninety days  for  reasons  of  public  safety  or  other
emergency  or  temporary  need as determined by such city agency without
prior consultation with the local community board;  provided  that  such
city agency informs the affected community board in writing no more than
thirty days after any such temporary amendment.
5.  Notwithstanding  any  other provision of law, in addition to those
persons otherwise authorized to enforce any rules  promulgated  pursuant
to  this  section  and adjudicate violations thereof pursuant to article
two-A or two-B of this chapter, this section shall also  be  enforceable
by  an  agency  or  agencies designated for such purpose by the mayor of
such city, and notices of violation issued by such  agency  or  agencies
shall  be  returnable  to  the environmental control board of such city,
which shall  have  the  power  to  impose  the  civil  penalties  herein
provided. All proceedings before the environmental control board and any
enforcement   proceedings   shall   be   conducted  in  accordance  with
subdivision d of section one thousand forty-nine-a of the New York  city
charter  and  the  rules of the environmental control board, except that
service of a notice of violation of any  rule  promulgated  pursuant  to
this section shall be made on the owner or operator of the intercity bus
involved  in  the  violation (i) in the same manner as is prescribed for
service of process by article three of the civil practice law and  rules
or  article  three  of  the business corporation law; (ii) by delivering
such notice to the operator of the intercity bus, and mailing a copy  of
the  notice to the owner or operator of the intercity bus, provided that
proof of such service shall be  filed  with  the  environmental  control
board  within  twenty days, and service shall be complete ten days after
such filing; or (iii) by affixing such notice to the intercity bus,  and
mailing  a  copy of the notice to the owner or operator of the intercity
bus, provided that proof  of  such  service  shall  be  filed  with  the
environmental  control  board  within  twenty days, and service shall be
complete ten days  after  such  filing.  Civil  penalties  may  also  be
recovered   in   a   proceeding   commenced  in  a  court  of  competent
jurisdiction. Notwithstanding any other provision  of  law,  such  civil
penalties imposed by such environmental control board shall be paid into
the  general  fund  of  such  city.  Notwithstanding section one hundred
fifty-five of this chapter or any other provision of law, where a person
has been adjudicated  to  be  in  violation  of  any  rules  promulgated
pursuant  to  subdivision three of this section, such adjudication shall
not have the force and effect of a conviction of a traffic infraction or
of a violation of any provision of this  chapter  for  any  purpose  not
specified in this section.