NEW YORK CITY Thanks to the persistence of a Connecticut coach operator and a reporter for one of Manhattans neighborhood newspapers, New York City has issued revised charter bus parking guidelines.

The updated rules eliminate an onerous layover (parking) time limit of 15 minutes that suddenly and mysteriously appeared in the guidelines earlier this year.

The corrected guidelines also contain the latest and greatest list of authorized bus parking locations in the city.

The newest brouhaha over parking in the Manhattan area of New York City surfaced in April when a neighborhood newspaper, Chelsea Now, did a comprehensive analysis of the problems created by motorcoaches trying to find legal parking spaces (primarily) in the popular charter bus destination of Midtown Manhattan.

The article was written by Diane Vacca, a reporter for the newspaper and a political science student at Columbia University. Unlike many reporters who tackle motorcoach industry-related issues, Vacca spent a great deal of time and effort learning the problem from the coach operator and driver perspective.

Her article was reprinted in the May 1 issue of Bus & Motorcoach News.

One of the people Vacca quoted was Mike Neustadt, co-president of Coach Tours Ltd. of Brookfield, Conn., and a member of the board of the United Motorcoach Association.

Both Neustadt and Vacca wanted to know why the 15-minute layover limit had suddenly appeared in the citys charter bus parking guidelines and whether it could be removed so drivers wouldnt be forced to drive in circles for hours while they waited for their passengers to attend Broadway shows, finish shopping excursions or complete other activities.

Eventually, the pair discovered that buried within the city bureaucracy is an Office of Bus Stop Management, and an official working in the office admitted the 15-minute limit had been a mistake, and said the guidelines would be corrected.

That happened last month, and the revised guidelines no longer mention any limitation other than those that apply to traditional loading and unloading zones.

Operators sending coaches to Manhattan, and their drivers, would be smart to familiarize themselves with the city Department of Transportation Charter Bus Parking Guidelines, which are readily available via the internet. The guidelines website contains a link to the list of authorized bus layover locations.

The list should be used carefully. Motorcoaches visiting New York City can only park in those layover spots that are designated for charter buses. Do not park in a location designated for tour buses. Tour bus parking is for companies that have a special relationship with the city, such as the double-decker sightseeing buses operated by Coach USA and others.

The list of authorized layover spots also is a little confusing because it appears to contain a number of duplicate listings. Thats because some blocks in the city have more than one layover location and thats the way the bureaucrats chose to acknowledge the multiple parking spots.

To find the charter bus parking guidelines and layover list, go to http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/ferrybus/charterbus.shtml. To contact the Office of Bus Stop Management, call (718) 894-2785.

While the updated guidelines and layover list clear up two vexing issues they do not resolve the more widespread and fundamental problem the overwhelming shortage of bus parking spaces in the city.

Nor do they deal with the widespread problem of police and other city employees, who hold thousands of passes, from parking in spaces designated for charter buses.

Place those items under the "some-problems-defy-solution" category.