§ 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\nmillion or more. 1. For the purposes of this section, the following\nterms shall have the following meanings:\n a. "Charter bus" shall mean a bus transporting passengers for\ncompensation in chartered party.\n b. "Chartered party" shall mean a group of persons who, pursuant to a\ncommon purpose and under a single contract and at a fixed charge, have\nacquired exclusive use of a bus to travel together as a group to a\nspecific destination or for a particular itinerary either agreed upon in\nadvance or modified after having left the place of origin by such group.\n c. "Community board" shall mean a community board as defined in\nsection twenty-eight hundred of the New York city charter.\n d. "Intercity bus" shall mean a bus that transports the general public\nbetween a city having a population of one million or more and any\nlocation outside of such city in scheduled bus service. Provided,\nhowever, that such term shall not include a school bus; or a bus\nproviding public transportation; or a charter bus.\n e. "Metropolitan transportation authority" shall mean the corporation\ncreated by section twelve hundred sixty-three of the public authorities\nlaw.\n f. "Public transportation" shall mean:\n (i) mass transportation services provided to the general public by any\npublic benefit corporation constituting a transportation authority, or a\nsubsidiary thereof, or any public transportation corporation constituted\nas an instrumentality of a state, or a subsidiary thereof, directly or\nthrough a contact with another entity, or\n (ii) mass transportation services provided to the general public by\nany county, city, town or village directly or through a contract with\nanother entity pursuant to section one hundred nineteen-r of the general\nmunicipal law, or provided to the general public by another state or any\ncounty, city, town or village in a state other than New York directly or\nthrough a contract with another entity pursuant to a similar law of such\nother state.\n 2. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any city\nhaving a population of one million or more may prohibit intercity buses\nfrom loading or unloading passengers on streets within such city except\non designated streets and at designated locations on such streets\npursuant to a permit in accordance with the provisions of this section.\n 3. The mayor of such city which acts pursuant to subdivision two of\nthis section shall designate an agency to promulgate rules to implement\nthis section. Such city agency shall promulgate such rules which shall\ncomply with chapter forty-five of the New York city charter including a\npublic hearing. Such rules shall:\n a. Establish a system of permits for allocating locations on\ndesignated streets where intercity buses may load and unload passengers,\nand prohibit loading and unloading of passengers other than at such\ndesignated locations on such designated streets pursuant to a permit;\n b. Require the owner or operator of an intercity bus to submit an\napplication for a permit for each proposed location for loading and\nunloading of passengers. Such application shall include the following\ninformation:\n (i) The name, address, telephone number, e-mail address and motor\ncarrier number of the intercity bus owner or operator, the United States\ndepartment of transportation number and/or New York state department of\ntransportation number for each bus that would use such proposed\nlocation;\n (ii) A proposed location or locations to be used by the specified\nintercity buses for loading or unloading passengers, and two or more\nalternative proposed locations;\n (iii) The number of intercity buses that would use the proposed\nlocation or locations;\n (iv) The number of passengers anticipated for each such intercity bus;\n (v) The proposed intercity bus schedule;\n (vi) The planned garage or parking location of the intercity buses\nduring periods when such buses are not being used; and\n (vii) Any other information deemed necessary by the commissioner of\nthe city agency designated pursuant to this subdivision.\n c. Establish criteria for assigning locations to permit applicants,\nwhich shall include traffic and safety considerations, the preferences\nof the applicant, consultation with the local community board as\nprovided in paragraph b of subdivision four of this section and other\ncriteria deemed appropriate by the commissioner of such city agency;\n d. Provide that such permit shall be issued for a term of up to three\nyears, except that such city may relocate a designated location for the\nloading and unloading of passengers by an intercity bus, upon ninety\ndays notice to the holder of a permit and after consultation with the\nlocal community board as provided in paragraph b of subdivision four of\nthis section, pursuant to the criteria established in accordance with\nparagraph c of this subdivision;\n e. Include criteria under which intercity bus owners or operators\nassigned a designated location for loading and unloading passengers\nprior to the effective date of this section shall be issued a permit to\nuse such location for the loading and unloading of passengers for a\nperiod of up to three years from the effective date of this section;\n f. Establish a timeframe of up to one hundred fifty days for\ndeterminations on permit applications, and a process for reviewing the\ndetermination on the application;\n g. Require intercity bus owners or operators to notify such city\nagency of changes to information provided in such permit application;\n h. Require intercity bus owners or operators to prominently display a\ncopy of the permit in each intercity bus;\n i. Require the posting of all approved applications on a website for\npublic access by such city agency within thirty days of approval;\n j. Include such other requirements as are deemed appropriate by the\ncommissioner of such city agency;\n k. Set forth a schedule of fines or civil penalties for violations of\nthe rules by owners or operators of intercity buses, including for\nloading or unloading passengers on a city street without a permit or for\nfailure to comply with any permit requirements or restrictions, provided\nthat such fines or civil penalties shall not be more than one thousand\ndollars for a first violation, and not be more than two thousand five\nhundred dollars for a second or subsequent violation within two years of\nthe first violation; and\n 1. Provide for the suspension or revocation of a permit for failure to\ncomply with any permit requirements or restrictions.\n Such rules also may provide for the imposition of an annual fee for\nsuch permit to cover administrative expenses, not to exceed two hundred\nseventy-five dollars per vehicle.\n 4. The city agency designated pursuant to subdivision three of this\nsection to promulgate rules shall:\n a. Have the authority to designate streets and locations where the\nloading or unloading of passengers by intercity buses shall be\npermitted;\n b. Consult with the local community board for the district\nencompassing the location to be designated in a permit, including but\nnot limited to a notice and comment period of forty-five days, prior to\nthe issuance or permanent amendment of such permit;\n c. Consult with the metropolitan transportation authority when a\nproposed location or relocation for the loading and unloading of\npassengers by an intercity bus would overlap with an existing\nmetropolitan transportation authority bus stop;\n d. Consult with the port authority of New York and New Jersey when a\nproposed location or relocation for the loading and unloading of\npassengers by an intercity bus would overlap with an existing port\nauthority of New York and New Jersey bus facility.\n e. Post all locations designated for the loading and unloading of\npassengers by intercity bus on a website for public access within thirty\ndays of approval; and\n f. Have the authority to temporarily amend any approved location for a\nperiod of up to ninety days for reasons of public safety or other\nemergency or temporary need as determined by such city agency without\nprior consultation with the local community board; provided that such\ncity agency informs the affected community board in writing no more than\nthirty days after any such temporary amendment.\n 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in addition to those\npersons otherwise authorized to enforce any rules promulgated pursuant\nto this section and adjudicate violations thereof pursuant to article\ntwo-A or two-B of this chapter, this section shall also be enforceable\nby an agency or agencies designated for such purpose by the mayor of\nsuch city, and notices of violation issued by such agency or agencies\nshall be returnable to the environmental control board of such city,\nwhich shall have the power to impose the civil penalties herein\nprovided. All proceedings before the environmental control board and any\nenforcement proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with\nsubdivision d of section one thousand forty-nine-a of the New York city\ncharter and the rules of the environmental control board, except that\nservice of a notice of violation of any rule promulgated pursuant to\nthis section shall be made on the owner or operator of the intercity bus\ninvolved in the violation (i) in the same manner as is prescribed for\nservice of process by article three of the civil practice law and rules\nor article three of the business corporation law; (ii) by delivering\nsuch notice to the operator of the intercity bus, and mailing a copy of\nthe notice to the owner or operator of the intercity bus, provided that\nproof of such service shall be filed with the environmental control\nboard within twenty days, and service shall be complete ten days after\nsuch filing; or (iii) by affixing such notice to the intercity bus, and\nmailing a copy of the notice to the owner or operator of the intercity\nbus, provided that proof of such service shall be filed with the\nenvironmental control board within twenty days, and service shall be\ncomplete ten days after such filing. Civil penalties may also be\nrecovered in a proceeding commenced in a court of competent\njurisdiction. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, such civil\npenalties imposed by such environmental control board shall be paid into\nthe general fund of such city. Notwithstanding section one hundred\nfifty-five of this chapter or any other provision of law, where a person\nhas been adjudicated to be in violation of any rules promulgated\npursuant to subdivision three of this section, such adjudication shall\nnot have the force and effect of a conviction of a traffic infraction or\nof a violation of any provision of this chapter for any purpose not\nspecified in this section.\n