MBTA approves DSLR-based ticketing for drivers blocking bus lanes and bus stops

Greater Boston drivers may soon receive a new type of traffic ticket in their mailboxes.

A new law institutes fines for blocking bus lanes or bus stops. Drivers could face fines ranging from $25 to $125 based on the new regulations that the MBTA’s Board of Directors approved Wednesday.

Unlike all other traffic tickets drivers have historically received in Massachusetts, these citations will be issued not by a police officer, but by an automated DSLR mounted on the front of a public bus or at a bus stop.

The new ticketing system was made possible by legislation signed by Gov. Maura Healey early this year, allowing for automated ticketing in special cases, including instances where drivers illegally pass school buses.

“We have nearly 7,000 bus stops that we serve every single day, and anytime somebody pops their car into a bus stop to go grab their Dunkin’ Donuts coffee rather than finding a legal place to put it, it puts our operators in an incredibly challenging position,” Alexandra Hallowell, the MBTA’s director of transit priority, told the agency’s board Wednesday.

While the regulations approved by the MBTA board cover drivers interacting with its Greater Boston bus network, the rules could also be adopted by municipalities, as well as other regional transit authorities across Massachusetts, such as the Worcester Regional Transit Authority or Pioneer Valley Transit Authority.

MBTA staff told the authority’s board in April they plan to initially equip a small fleet of buses with enforcement cameras later this year. The T will expand the number of buses equipped with the technology throughout 2026.

The cameras will automatically capture the license plates of vehicles blocking bus stops or designated bus lanes, issuing tickets to the registered owner of each vehicle.

Passenger vehicles blocking a bus lane will be cited $25 after a one-time warning. For subsequent violations within 180 days, the fines would increase to $50, $100 and then $125.

Commercial vehicles will also receive a warning, with fines starting at $50 and increasing to $75, $100, and $125 for subsequent violations within one year.

Proponents of the new system say obstructing bus lanes slows down public transit, while parking in bus stops forces riders with disabilities to board or exit far from the curb, creating a serious threat to their well-being.

“When our buses can’t deploy their ramps for safe and accessible entrance and exit from the vehicles, there is an increased risk of collisions. There’s an increased risk of passengers being struck by vehicles,” Hallowell said. “Having clear access to curbs is a critical accessibility challenge.”

Nearly 40% of MBTA riders take the bus, according to MBTA data.

Mary Skelton Roberts, the city of Boston’s representative on the T board, said the city supports the crackdown on drivers obstructing bus stops and bus lanes.

She also asked whether MBTA staff had spoken with delivery drivers and businesses that may be adversely affected by automated ticketing.

“You don’t want a situation where you roll out this program and then you have conflict between either small businesses, Uber drivers and others trying to make this happen,” she said.

The regulations also provide some exceptions to the tickets and create a process for challenging the citation.

With the regulations approved, the MBTA staff will shift to developing the specifics of the ticketing program and sharing details on its elements with the public, Hallowell said. Lawmakers required a mandatory 60-day public awareness period before ticketing could begin, although the grace period could extend for up to two years.

The board approved the regulations unanimously.

While automated ticketing is already used in other states, Massachusetts lawmakers overcame their historical opposition to its passage here by addressing longstanding concerns about privacy and due process.

Under the laws passed by the Legislature and signed by Healey in January, the images captured by the cameras can only be used for issuing tickets, unless a judge orders otherwise. The images are not public records, must be deleted within 120 days, and cannot be used to identify drivers, passengers or the contents of vehicles.

The regulations also prevent the MBTA, other bus operators and towns or cities from using automated ticketing to generate revenue.

Authorities can only issue tickets after they’ve reviewed the images captured by the cameras for accuracy.

The MBTA has over 40 miles of dedicated bus lanes, with plans to have more than 50 miles by the end of the decade. Transit officials have identified seven locations across the network where they could begin using cameras to ticket cars blocking bus lanes, they said in April.

Included on that list was a portion of Brighton Avenue, a brief stretch of North Washington Street between the North End and West End, Sullivan Square in Charlestown, a few blocks of St. James Avenue in the Back Bay, a stretch of Columbus Avenue between Jamaica Plain and Roxbury, and extended portions of Huntington Avenue and Washington Street.

Enforcement cameras could also be mounted roadside at any of the MBTA’s 7,000 bus stops and bus exchange plazas. The responsibility for installing and managing those cameras would fall on the town or city where each is located, and they would be subject to the same regulations the MBTA is developing.

An analysis by the T earlier this year identified 10 locations where bus stops are most often blocked near major health care facilities, which could be the first bus stops to feature enforcement cameras.

Several locations are in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston and Brookline, while others are near Tufts Medical Center, Boston Medical Center, and St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center.

Similar ticketing technologies are already in use in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Oakland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, MBTA officials said in April.

In San Francisco, Hallowell said in April, the city found that 93% of those cited using automated cameras received only one ticket. More simply: the single citation appeared to be enough to change their behavior.

However, the remaining 7% of drivers cited accounted for 20% of all tickets.

“There’s a small group of people who don’t care and will continue to behave badly,” Hallowell said. “I don’t think we want to design our system around those edge cases. What we’re trying to design this for is those 93% who are alerted they’re doing something wrong and will change their behavior.”