§ 4-10 Buses.
RCNY § 4-10
(a)Franchise regulations.
(1)Franchise required. No person shall operate or cause to be operated on any street a bus for the operation of which a franchise, consent, or certificate of convenience and necessity, order, or other authorization of any municipal, state, or federal authority is required, unless such franchise, consent, certificate of convenience and necessity, order or other authorization shall have been obtained. No person shall operate or move or cause to be operated or moved on any street a bus operating pursuant to a certificate of convenience and necessity, order or other written authorization of any state or federal authority for which operation of a franchise or consent of the Department of Transportation of the City of New York is not required, unless there shall be filed with the Commissioner, not later than two weeks after issuance, duly authenticated copies of such certificates, orders, authorizations and amendments thereto.
(2)Franchise not required. Every person applying to any governmental authority other than the City of New York for authorization to operate a bus into or through the City of New York, for which operation or a franchise or consent of the Department of Transportation of the City of New York is not required, shall, within ten days after the date of submitting such application to such governmental authority, file a duly authenticated copy thereof with the Commissioner, and attach thereto a statement setting forth the address, by street and number, of any proposed off-street terminal or terminals to be used within the City of New York.
(b)Designated routes. No person shall operate or cause to be operated on any street a bus operating pursuant to a franchise or consent of the Department of Transportation of the City of New York which designates the route to be followed, except on the route so designated. No person shall operate or cause to be operated on any street any other bus, other than a charter bus, except over a route designated by the Commissioner in writing.
(c)Pickup and discharge of passengers and layovers.
(i)(A) At times and along those portions of bus routes assigned by the Department, an operator of a bus authorized to operate in the City of New York that provides local or express service along a bus route may discharge a passenger, on such passenger's request, at a curbside location other than a bus stop as described in paragraph (1) above, provided that such location affords the passenger getting off the bus a safe point of departure from the bus and provided that complying with such request will not interfere with the flow of traffic. (B) Prospective passengers shall be picked up only at a bus stop as provided in paragraph (1) above. (C) The provisions of this subparagraph shall be clearly posted, in a format approved by the Department, in all buses authorized to discharge passengers between assigned stops. (D) Clause (A) of this subparagraph does not apply to intercity buses.
(ii)A charter bus may stop on a highway at points of origin and destination for the purpose of expeditiously picking up or discharging passengers, except where prohibited by sign or by the Department.
(3)Layovers. No operator of a bus shall make a bus layover, except in locations designated by sign or by the Department in writing. For the purposes of this rule, layover is defined as follows: for a bus without passengers a layover consists of waiting at a curb or other street location; for a bus with passengers a layover consists of waiting at a curb or other street location for more than five minutes. The Department may define the terms, including duration and authorized companies, for use of layover areas.
(d)Intercity Bus Permit System.
(iii)The Department will have up to one hundred fifty days to make a determination on any new Intercity Bus Permit application.
(iv)The Department will have up to ninety days to make a determination on any renewal Intercity Bus Permit application.
(v)Consultation about proposed on-street bus stop locations. (A) The Department will notify the local community board for the district encompassing the location of a proposed on-street bus stop at least forty-five calendar days prior to the issuance of an Intercity Bus Permit or the relocation of an assigned on-street bus location, in order to provide the community board the opportunity to comment on the proposed on-street bus stop location. (B) The Department will consult with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, if the location of a proposed on-street bus stop overlaps with an existing Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus stop. (C) The Department will consult with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, if the location of a proposed on-street bus stop overlaps with an existing Port Authority of New York and New Jersey bus facility.
(vi)If the Department refuses to issue a permit pursuant to subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, or disapproves of all of an applicant's on-street bus stop location(s) requested in its application based on the bus stop assignment criteria in subparagraph (iv) of this paragraph, the applicant will have fifteen days to appeal such determination by the Department or submit alternative bus stop location(s). The Department will make a final determination on such appeal within thirty days.
(4)Relocation of on-street bus stop locations. The Department may relocate an assigned on-street bus stop location based on the criteria provided in subparagraph (iv) of paragraph (3) of this subdivision and upon ninety days notice to the permit holder.
(5)Permit fees. Permittees must pay an annual fee of thirty dollars for each scheduled weekly pick-up or drop-off listed on the Intercity Bus Permit issued by the Department. If the total permit fee exceeds $275 per vehicle used in the permitted bus operations, based on the documentation provided by permittee in its application, the permit fee will be reduced by the department to a maximum total of $275 per vehicle actually used in such permitted bus operations. If the permittee adds any buses to its operations not listed in its application pursuant to 34 RCNY § 4-10(2)(H) during the term of such permit, and if the permittee's fee has already been reduced to a $275 per vehicle fee as provided for herein at the time of permit issuance, then the permittee shall be charged a fee of $275 for each additional vehicle.
(6)Term of Intercity Bus Permits. Intercity Bus Permits will be issued for a term of up to three years.
(7)Permittee obligations. All Intercity Bus Permit permittees must comply with the following obligations: (i) Promptly notify the Department of changes to information provided in its application.
(vii)Notify the Department of the issuance of any violation by the United States Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration or the New York State Department of Transportation within five days of the issuance thereof.
(8)Suspension and revocation of Intercity Bus Permits.
(9)Temporary relocation of intercity on-street bus stops. The Department may temporarily relocate a designated intercity on-street bus stop location for a period of up to ninety days for reasons of public safety or other emergency or temporary need as determined by the Department. The Department will notify the local community board for the district encompassing the location within thirty days of such temporary relocation.
(e)Routes.
(f)Required inspection of buses. No person shall operate or cause to be operated on any street any bus required by law, ordinance, resolution, or rule of any municipal, state, or federal authority to display a certificate, disc, sticker, poster, or other insignia evidencing that such bus has been inspected and is mechanically fit, or has been bonded or insured, or that prescribed fees have been paid, unless such a certificate, disc, sticker, poster or other insignia, currently valid, shall be displayed in the lower right hand corner of the interior surface of the windshield of such bus. In the event it is required that any writing be placed on any such certificate, disc, sticker, poster, or other insignia by someone other than a public official, no person shall operate or move or cause to be operated or moved on any street any such bus unless such writing shall have been placed on such certificate, disc, sticker, poster, or other insignia in black ink and in letters or numbers no less than one inch in height and three-fourths of an inch in width.
(g)Leased and rented buses. No person shall operate or cause to be operated a bus leased, rented, or borrowed from another person unless there is marked on the side of the bus in letters at least three inches in height the words "chartered by" followed by the name of the person operating such leased, rented, or borrowed bus. Notwithstanding the foregoing, buses leased, rented or borrowed from the City of New York shall not be required to have such markings.
(h)Limitation on backing buses. No person shall back any bus from or into any street or across or along any sidewalk.
(j)Bus Stop Permits for Non-Intercity Buses.
(viii)Notify the Department of the issuance of any violation, revocation, suspension, or other status change, to the bus operating authority, by the United States Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration or the New York State Department of Transportation, or the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs within five calendar days of the issuance thereof.
(ix)Notify the Department of the issuance of any traffic or parking violations within thirty calendar days of the issuance thereof and the issuance of any traffic violation committed by a driver while operating the sight-seeing bus that could be the basis for the assignment of points within three calendar days of the issuance thereof.
(x)Not transfer, sell, give or otherwise reassign the Bus Stop Permit(s) except as authorized by the Department.
(xi)Provide the Department, in the form prescribed by the Department, with quarterly reports containing Global Positioning System data for each bus operated by the permit holder, recorded at one-minute intervals, including, but not limited to, vehicle identification number, time and date of ping, time zone, latitude and longitude, ignition status, speed, and odometer reading, except as authorized by the Department. This subparagraph applies only to sight-seeing Bus Stop Permit holders.
