If you double park in a bus lane in San Francisco, expect a ticket in the mail with a fine up to $250. On Tuesday, the California Senate signed a bill that allows cameras to be mounted in the front of Muni buses to spot transit lane violators. San Francisco Municipal Railway currently has dozens of poorly enforced bus lanes throughout the city. Mayor Gavin Newson comments, "Double parking significantly impacts on-time performance and delays hundreds, if not thousands, of San Franciscans on public transit city-wide every day." San Francisco is using London as an example who uses cameras to enforce both their congestion charge and the use of bus lanes. The fine in London is up to £120 or $240 USD. Bus lanes have been increasingly popular among transit systems as a quick, cheap, and easy way to increase reliability and speed. Unlike subways, bus lanes do not require major disruptions during construction, protests and complaints of residents because of the noise, or tunnel collapses (Paris experienced a tunnel collapse when building a new Métro line). Several other bus lane projects are on the way in San Francisco, but will not be built for another five to ten years.
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