New York City is notoriously expensive. But over the summer, a motorcoach sent to the city by Little Rock Coaches Inc. ran up an unexpected expense – a fine for idling.
“We sent a motorcoach to New York City, and we were videotaped by a civilian idling for a minute and 26 seconds in lower Manhattan next to a skyscraper,” recalls Cary Martin, owner of Little Rock Coaches in Little Rock, Arkansas.
“It wasn’t marked in any way as an educational building, but there was a school on the third floor for about 100 students. And because it was a school, the idling allowance wasn’t three minutes but one minute.”
Because of that extra 26 seconds, Martin’s company was cited.
“It felt like a setup,” he says. “I’m sure it’s a lucrative business for someone who knows that school is there. They just keep videotaping buses and trucks that are loading and offloading.”
The fine could have been as high as $1,000, but Martin fought back. With help from an attorney connected through the Bus Association of New York (BANY), he proved the building wasn’t marked as a school.
The courts sided with Martin and excused his citation. But it still cost him $300 in legal fees and more in frustration, something shared by many in the industry.
“The question becomes: do I want to go to New York City? Do my drivers want to drive in New York City?” Martin asks. “A lot of companies raise their rates when they find out you’re going into the city. You never know what you’re going to experience. It’s going in the direction of being cost-prohibitive — at least from way down south.”
‘War on buses’
Long-distance and charter operators like Martin say the city’s policies have created a “war on buses.” The fees add up, whether they are fines, parking restrictions, tolls, or congestion charges.
“I know they’re talking about doing the same thing in Washington, D.C., and they’ve talked about it in Chicago,” Martin says. “And in New York, they’ve even discussed — and come close to implementing — a policy that if a motorcoach blocks a bicycle lane, it’s an automatic $2,000 fine.”
These regulations make it harder for out-of-town operators to serve the city — and for visitors to come in at all.
“Every time a new penalty or fee gets added, it discourages travel by group,” Martin explains. “And that hurts the very tourism economy the city depends on.”
Glenn Every, former UMA Director and current president of BANY, has been fighting the same battle on behalf of the industry. He has watched as the idling enforcement program, originally designed to reduce pollution, has evolved into what he describes as “a system ripe with abuse.”
“What began as a well-intentioned environmental initiative to protect the public has turned into a system that unfairly targets private operators providing transportation to that same public,” Every explained at the United Motorcoach Association Town Hall on Nov. 6. “And it’s been compounded by a few wealthy opportunists making a lot of money off it who now have a vested interest.”
Under the Citizens Air Complaint Program, any person can video idling vehicles, submit the video, and receive 25% of the fine if it leads to a penalty. Fines range from $350 to $2,000, and for some citizen enforcers, the program has become a six-figure income stream, with the top enforcer making over $800,000, reports the New York Post.
Meanwhile, about 29,000 city-owned vehicles, including police, fire, sanitation and others, as well as nearly 5,800 buses operated by the New York State Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) are exempt from idling enforcement. Many MTA buses produce far more emissions than the private sector’s modern, cleaner fleets.
Another issue that makes it harder for Martin and other operators to fight the fines is the delay between issuing a violation and sending a notice.
“They’ll often send your citation eight to 15 months after the idling event,” he says. “By then, your telematics data is gone, and your driver may not even work for you anymore. You have no defense, so you just pay it. You have to wonder if that’s part of their strategy.”
Buses part of the solution, not the problem
BANY is working alongside Bus4NYC and national partners such as the American Bus Association. Together, they have been meeting with city officials to address their concerns.
Those efforts have included a petition for variance, hearings, and meetings with the Department of Environmental Protection, the agency responsible for enforcement. They have also appealed to the mayor’s office to balance environmental goals with transportation realities. The theme is always consistent – motorcoach travel is the safest, most environmentally responsible, and energy-efficient mode of transportation.
New York City has now elected a new mayor. Zohran Mamdani, who describes himself as a democratic socialist, ran on a platform that included free bus rides and a tax on residents who earn more than $1 million a year. He will take office in 2026.
“BANY has made known its transportation priorities for NYC, and relief from the unfair impact of the Citizen Air Complaint Program is at the top of the list,” said Every.
Martin points out that his buses meet the latest emissions standards, and the industry as a whole has made a significant investment in clean air technology.
“Every new coach we buy costs tens of thousands of dollars more because it meets clean-air standards,” he says. “We’re already doing our part. We just need the city to recognize that.”
Martin and Every say the problem isn’t with environmental protection, but with policies that punish the wrong people and often achieve the opposite of what was intended.
“As president of BANY, I’m concerned that out-of-state operators will stop coming to NYC, and that will have a direct impact on destinations and on our tour and travel partners. “
“This whole debate has been driven by emotion and misinformation,” Every adds. “It’s hard to fight feelings with facts.”
