TWU local suing MTA over bus lane fines
Union’s members issued violations when on the job, complaint says
A union representing bus supervisors is suing the MTA over fines issued to union members who park in bus lanes when supervising bus inspections or maintenance.
Posted Monday, April 21, 2025 6:20 pm
BY DUNCAN FREEMAN
A Transport Workers Union local representing New York City Transit supervisors is suing the MTA and the city’s Department of Finance over what the union’s president says are unfair fines issued to members who park city vehicles in bus lanes, busways or bus stops while doing their job.
TWU Local 106 represents dozens of bus supervisors who inspect and maintain NYCT buses, including those that drive on dedicated bus lanes throughout the five boroughs. When supervisors are called by bus operators following a breakdown, an incident or other issues, Local 106’s president, Philip Valenti, said his members park their city-owned vehicles adjacent to or in front of the bus while carrying out their tasks.
But the buses are increasingly being equipped with cameras installed by the Department of Transportation that take photos of the license plates of cars blocking bus lanes or bus stops to enforce the exclusivity of those areas. The Finance Department then levies fines against the drivers of those vehicles on a sliding scale that starts at $50 and but can reach as high as $250 per violation.
The sliding scales are assigned to each vehicle’s license plate rather than to drivers, which means some members will get hit with $250 fines for an initial violation if the vehicle has already been ticketed.
For several years, Valenti said, members of Local 106 have been getting hit with fines that the MTA has insisted the individual workers must pay even though they’re doing MTA work in city-owned cars. He said that 79 members have so far been fined, but he expects there are others who have yet to come forward.
“We shouldn’t be getting tickets for doing our job driving transit vehicles responding for transit vehicles in locations where we’re supposed to be,” Valenti said Friday. “They’re just doing their jobs.”
‘We have no choice’
The union members can and often do successfully appeal the fines, and after meeting with DOT officials, workers were granted some exceptions and told that if they turned on their cars’ overhead and hazard lights while parked that violations wouldn’t be issued. But Local 106 members continue to receive fines, and the MTA continues to insist that it’s the drivers of the vehicles, not the agency, that must pay them.
Valenti said the union was out of options and filed a suit April 16 on behalf of two members against the MTA and DOF. “We have no choice,” he said. “They’re not going to change anything, we have to take it to court.”
The union is asking a judge to declare that the MTA pay all future fines, reimburse workers who have paid fines in the past and make MTA vehicles responding to bus issues exempt from liability.
MTA spokesperson Eugene Resnick declined to specifically address the suit’s merits. “Bus lanes are meant for buses to get customers to where they need to go safely and efficiently,” he said in a statement.
The Finance Department did not respond to a request for comment and the DOT deferred comment to the Law Department, whose spokesperson declined to comment.
J.P. Patafio, a TWU Local 100 vice president representing bus operators and other MTA employees, said that in the last few years tow truck drivers who are among the local’s members have been subject to similar fines as those levied to workers with Local 106. Patafio represents around two dozen tow truck drivers who come to the aid of city buses when they break down.
While not a party to the suit, Patafio said he supports it. “We think it’s an issue too,” he said. “It makes no sense that my tow truck drivers who respond in bus lanes are getting tickets.”
Most of his members who are hit with fines either file grievances with the MTA or appeal the fines through DOT directly instead of paying them, Patafio said. But he’s frustrated his members who are responding to bus emergencies — just like the supervisors — must deal with the fines at all.
Both union leaders are hoping the suit resolves the issue. “We’re confident we got a great case,” Valenti said.
