Bus lanes are a powerful tool. They can increase bus travel speeds, improve service reliability, shorten trip times, reduce waiting times, and lessen bus bunching. They’ve also been found to increase ridership and decrease roadway collisions. However, the full spectrum of bus lane benefits is only realized when lanes remain unobstructed by non-bus vehicles. Though dependent on lane design, this typically requires enforcement.

Well attuned to this, Washington, DC, just launched a new enforcement program for its bus-only roadway spaces. Though it’s sure to improve service quality, some elements of the program could exacerbate inequities by perpetuating racially prejudicial enforcement practices. Several changes could better protect low-income and communities of color while heightening public approval and elevating civic trust.

The history—and present reality—of US roadway enforcement is deeply racist and highly ineffective

Non-white America is hyper policed. In particular, interactions between police officers and Black America are disproportionately frequent, violent, traumatic, and deadly. Our streets serve as the stage for much of this racially disparate behavior, as roadway enforcement is the leading cause for interactivity between police and the public.

Meanwhile, the country’s roadways have become increasingly dangerous. In 2021, crash and fatality counts were so high that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg declared US roadways in a state of crisis. Trends both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic suggest existing in-person officer enforcement methods, in addition to being strikingly void of regulation, fail to lessen unsafe roadway behavior.

Conditions have reached such extremes that all levels of government are presently discussing roadway enforcement policy and legislation changes. Camera-based programs, though imperfect, are an evidence-backed strategy to reduce the dangers of enforcement and increase roadway safety—if designed with justice-forward intention.

DC’s new camera-based enforcement program offers admirable service quality and accessibility gains

Starting this summer, 140 Metrobuses will have outward-facing cameras capturing license plate information of vehicles in the bus’s path. These buses service the 31 routes that currently use bus-only lanes at some point in their alignment within city limits. In addition, DC’s program will be the country’s first use of cameras to enforce bus stops—covering almost 1,400 stops.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) reports that 80 percent of riders along bus-lane-supported routes are people of color and half have low incomes. WMATA also estimates that 64 percent of all DC bus riders would see better service as a result of the program, as keeping bus lanes clear could increase bus speeds from their current average of 10 miles per hour to 20 miles per hour.

Hurdling the rampant issue of buses not being able to pull in aligned with the curb while servicing stops will not only improve safety conditions, but will also remove a major accessibility barrier (PDF) for riders with disabilities, those traveling with mobility assistance devices or large cargo, and those traveling with children.

But will DC’s program avoid the prejudicial pitfalls of past enforcement systems?

The program is being met with some trepidation. Cautionary voices are questioning the city’s motivations and speculating its true aim is to generate revenue. For policymakers committed to the program’s stated service and safety enhancement objectives who want to mitigate these worries, this raises the question of where to turn for solutions. Academia offers some guidance.

Against the current backdrop of nationwide calls to reform policing, surveillance practices, and authority accountability, greater research attention has been paid to enforcement policy. This includes a recent study that interviewed Black leaders representing communities historically abused by enforcement agencies and generated 11 camera program design recommendations. This research offers lessons for those interested in fine-tuning their camera enforcement programming to circumvent misuses of power.

When compared against these 11 recommendations, DC’s program demonstrates a few bright spots of alignment.

• Specialization over generalization.
  Separating bus-related enforcement from existing red-light and speeding camera programs allows the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) more flexibility in traffic violation coding. This means changes in penalties can be made to each violation specifically rather than necessitating that an edit to one mean the same for another.
• Targeting causes, not just symptoms.
  Pairing camera enforcement policy with investments that disincentivize single-occupancy vehicles reduces a major contributor to roadway danger: the presence of cars. DDOT plans to increase the number of miles of bus priority lanes from 17 in 2022 to 120 lane miles in 2029 and to add non-lane bus priority features, like queue jumps and transit signal priority, that will decrease bus travel times and improve reliability. Additionally, DC Council and WMATA’s Board of Directors are actively discussing making bus service fare free; a choice that may further contribute to mode shift toward transit.

Unfortunately, the program falls short of more Black community leader-informed design recommendations than it meets, including the following.

• Test and measure.
  Though the program is structured like a pilot—with an initial two-year run—it’s unclear how much meeting evaluation targets (if targets exists) will dictate the program’s future. Without performance or evaluation targets, it’s difficult to argue that the program isn’t about revenue generation.
• Punishment is not the goal.
  The program will undergo a familiarization period this summer (those found in violation of lane or stop restrictions will receive a warning by mail), and fines will begin being issued in the fall. However, there’s been no announcement of a broader awareness campaign. Transparency is critical to building the sense of legitimacy needed to gain public support for the program and offers an opportunity to raise public faith in civic agencies (link updated 9/5/2024) beyond the topic of enforcement.
• Disconnect from police capacity expansion.
  There’s no mention of intention to increase police department funding or on-street police presence as a part of this program—but there’s also no language that disallows for either treatment. Loose interpretation of potential police involvement opens the program up to the possibility of data seizure, increased dataveillance behavior, and practices of algorithmic racism by law enforcement agencies.
• Oversight with teeth, expertise, and varied perspective. 
  Mayor Bowser has proposed that a taskforce—comprising leadership from DDOT, public works, the Office of Racial Equity, and the police department—evaluate the “equity-related performance” of the program. Though an oversight body, this group includes no members external to DC government, features no members of the public or community-based organizations, and doesn’t appear to have decision making power. In this form, the taskforce has a low likelihood of achieving the range of benefits associated with oversight committees.
• Right-size the penalty. 
  At $200, DC’s fine for bus lane violation will be the highest in the country. Some enforcement programs have introduced income-adjusted penalty structures or have an option to replace payment with community service. Others have removed all fees that penalize late payment; a condition most frequently experienced by citation recipients with low incomes. DC’s program offers no alternatives to its $200 lane and $100 stop violation charges and no needs- or circumstance-based penalty adjustment options, priming the program to worsen economic disparities.
• Fund self-enforcing infrastructure. 
  Mayor Bowser has proposed redirecting camera-collected revenue away from its slated roadway safety-specific fund to the District’s general fund. This would disrupt the direct channel between ticket collection and investment in roadway safety redesign in neighborhoods of color–where a disproportionately high share of crashes occur—that have been systematically divested from for decades. Additionally, there’s no stated goal of eventually rendering cameras obsolete through self-enforcing design techniques. This strengthens the notion that the program’s objective is just as much about filling coffers as improving service and suggests the city is comfortable doing so at the expense of neighborhoods of color.

Fortunately, there’s still time to course correct

The program’s two-year operating contract features an option to extend and expand through fiscal year 2033. Potential contract renewal in 2025 offers an opportunity to incorporate these missing elements. Adopting these enhancements would establish DC as a leader in this fast-growing policy landscape and would undoubtedly play a role in shaping future programs, like those being piloted in Seattle, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. The time to lead by example with a demonstrated commitment to justice is now.