Transit

Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill on Saturday that will speed up bus trips by expanding the number of bus lanes where the city can deploy camera enforcement. The law now enables New York City to use cameras to keep car drivers out of exclusive bus lanes on up to 16 routes, an increase from just six today.

Governor Andrew Cuomo definitely hasn't taken an MTA bus "since he first assumed office in 2011," Gothamist reported yesterday, and it's probably been much longer than that. So will the governor who never rides the bus sign the bill to expand camera enforcement of New York City's growing bus lane network?

It's been almost five years since New Jersey Governor Chris Christie killed the ARC tunnel. Things haven't improved since.

Last night, the State Senate followed the Assembly's lead and passed a bill to continue New York City's bus lane camera enforcement program and expand it to an additional 10 bus routes. The bill now awaits Governor Andrew Cuomo's signature.

Update 10:06 p.m.: The story has been updated to reflect the final official vote tally in the Assembly of 79-60. Tonight, the Senate passed its companion bill with an unofficial vote tally of 51 in favor and 8 opposed.

Five years ago, the state passed a bill allowing the city to install cameras that catch drivers who illegally use bus lanes on six Select Bus Service routes. Unless Albany acts soon, that legislation will expire and the cameras will have to be turned off at the end of this summer.

Subway ridership hit a 65-year high in 2014, serving 1.75 billion trips last year, the most since the New York City Transit Authority was formed in 1953. That's an increase of 2.6 percent over 2013 and 12 percent since 2007, according to the MTA. The subway now serves 5.6 million passenger trips on an average weekday, and 6 million on an average two-day weekend.

The centerpiece of Governor Cuomo's second-term transportation agenda for New York City isn't closing the $15 billion gap in the MTA capital program or taking serious steps to relieve the city from suffocating traffic. Instead, Cuomo's big idea is a new rail link to LaGuardia Airport.