New cameras on Harbour Bridge

I noticed two brand new Cameras on the approach to the Harbour Bridge today.
They are only 100m apart pointed at the southbound bus lane. The question
is, what are these for?
Speed cameras don't make sense as this is a bus lane, and why have 2 cameras
within 100m metres on a stretch of road that hasn't had any serious crashes.
Or maybe it captures the whole road but even then who can speed down this
part of the road? It is always chockers with traffic and I doubt anyone
could get over the 80 limit even if they wanted to.
Is it possible that they are Bus Lane Cameras designed to catch illegal bus
lane use? The cops usually hang out down there so it could be a move to free
up two more cops for desk duty. Anyone have more info about these?

 

Cameras just so the traffic control blokes can watch what's going on?

 

do they look like speed cameras ??

on Gt Western Highway near Parramatta there is several of these cameras into
and out of Parramatta
to catch illegal bus lane use

 

I noticed a bunch of them on the Gt Western Highway just
west of Parramatta arranged in a similar fashion to that
which you describe a few nights ago. Got a bit worried and
slowed down for a look-see.

The ones out there have big yellow stickers on the back
of 'em with words to the effect of "BUS LANE CAMERAS,
ON TRIAL" on the back of 'em.

(My wording isn't correct, but something that implied they
were there to detect illegal use of bus lanes, and that
they were 'on trial'.)

Wonder if these aren't the same. I don't do The Bridge
southbound in the morning, only northbound in the
afternoon. Haven't seen 'em.

G

 

No they look like speed cameras, big boxes with a second smaller box
(flash?).

 

thats a real pain. you can have a large truck or a some old VW in front of
you, and be forced to
crawl behind it while there's an empty lane to the left.

ordinarily a cop will let you enter and leave the bus lane for the purpose
of overtaking, but with the camera's one false move and you are caught.

What if some hoon has just moved in front of you and taken up all your
safety room, and then he has to stop for stopped traffic... right, so what
do you do ? move left into the empty lane.. snap snap.

One drivers bad actions have caused you to get this fine - now you have to
go to court to tell them that.

 

So you break the law and are whinge if you get pinged. Have you tried
overtaking on the footpath also? Bus lanes are not there for overtaking. Due
to people using it as such causing danger there has been a neccissity to
install the cameras.

If you are not speeding and have a proper saftey zone - I would suggest you
come to a nice easy stop behind the car in front. On the other hand if you
were racing your hoon mate or purposely not letting someone in and they cut
you off or just plain tail gating - I would suggest you stop in a hurry or
make sure your insurance is up to date.

A magistrate would not fall for the story - " a hoon cut in front and I had
to use the Bus Lane"

Now if you really want to use the bus lane buy a motorcycle, drive a bus
taxi or hire car. You can use it to your hearts content without worrying
your pretty little head about the cameras.

 

I wonder how they are going to differentiate between a bus, taxi, hire car
and all other vehicles? I can't see it snapping pics of ALL vehicles as it
would take way to long to sort through and would undoubtedly be too
expensive. Operator driven monitor watching won't be useful (read
financially viable) except in peak hour so my money is on putting the
current e-tag system in all vehicles allowed to use bus lanes (this would
include every public service vehicle such as taxis, buses, cop cars, ambo's
and fire trucks). I wonder what they are going to do to motorcycles?

 

No, I reckon it's really great!
Being a Bus Lane, and not a Bus Only Lane, it's excellent for me to
get into Parramatta and back


cheers
boky

 

if you have a look in the road there is sensors

and then up the road there is another sensor

looking at both sensors it looks that they are located where the front and
rear wheels of a bus
would be on the road so this looks like 1 way to eliminate some pics

these new ones are probably also the digital kind so with a simple script of

take photo
both sensors activated at same time then delete photo

from there , there is prob OCR software linked to the RTA database
which will then confirm registration

bike delete photo
taxi delete photo
hire car delete photo
stupid habib mobile send tickets

 

Hello, Johnnie5!
You wrote on Sat, 25 Dec 2004 08:02:06 +1100:


J> if you have a look in the road there is sensors

J> and then up the road there is another sensor

J> looking at both sensors it looks that they are located where the front
J> and rear wheels of a bus
J> would be on the road so this looks like 1 way to eliminate some pics

J> these new ones are probably also the digital kind so with a simple
J> script of

J> take photo
J> both sensors activated at same time then delete photo

Possibly, but highly unlikely IMO because this would mean a truck with the
same wheel spacing (and there would be many) would be immune or even two
cars tailgating that may trigger the "delete photo based on wheel spacing
difference" script. And add to this the fact that not all buses have the
same wheel spacing and you get the idea. More than likely, these sensors
are used to trigger the two photo flashes that are required for speed/red
light cameras.

J> from there , there is prob OCR software linked to the RTA database
J> which will then confirm registration

Other than the e-tag scenario, this is the most likely thing they would do
but it means a HUGE database of license plate numbers. Also, I wonder what
they do to interstate buses? All seems like a huge waste of manpower to me.

J> bike delete photo
J> taxi delete photo
J> hire car delete photo
J> stupid habib mobile send tickets

 

HUGE database of rego numbers WTF ? the RTA already has the database
they can just use it as well

hmm so it costs a couple of hundred $ for 1 person for the day

they pick up quite a few fines in the day ,

hence their wage is paid many times over and the guvnmint gets a shitload of
revenue

that my friend is called job creation and a solution to our unemployment
problem

 

Victoria have had em for years, on Johnston Street. The cameras
photograph everything using that lane, with a bulk roll of film (800
exposures). Not sure if each vehicle has one or two photos against it
though.

Today with digital technology, 1) the film need never be changed, 2) the
camera can sit there happily taking photos all day without any user
intervention, 3) OCR technology can automate the process somewhat,
Transurban have been using it on the Citylink tollway for nearly 5 years
now - do you think the Citylink toll gantries have a dinkly little roll
of film that has to get changed every 800 cars that pass through?

It's a good move from NSW to be trialling the cameras. Why should one
selfish person in one car hold up the commute of 30 people on one bus?

 

well kind of.
Its like an empty lane, that can be used to drive around a blockage on the
road.

The law does specify that only driving in the bus lane for a reasonable
distance is the offence.

The law makes that illegal.

Read the law.

I would have thought the main problem is that the people drive in it and
block it up where they have trouble getting out lane because the other
lanes are so full.

NO, if the other vehicle TOOK YOUR SAFETY ZONE AWAY IN AN INSTANT.
That was a condition I already stipulated, moron.

Then get charged with dangerous driving , because the law stipulates that
you must avoid the collision,
and the law allows the use of the bus lane for such !

Yes they will. the cost of going to court to tell the story is evaulated as
more than the fine,
so they basically dont care if they just see you there and say 'case
dismissed'.

thats a very silly thing to say.

 

In aus.motorcycles on Sat, 25 Dec 2004 03:52:48 GMT

The wording is


(2) The driver of any vehicle may drive in a bicycle lane, bus lane,
tram lane, transit lane or truck lane if:
(a) it is necessary for the driver to drive in the lane to avoid an
obstruction; or


"large truck or a some old VW in front" is not "an obstruction" within
the meaning of the act...

At least I bet you will have a hell of a time convicing the beak that it
is when you take the ticket to court.


Zebee

 

The RTA already has this database.

The OCR technology necessary to weed the legitimate users out from the
illegal users already exists, and is already in use.

They could {and probably do} snap every vehicle which doesn't meet
certain requirements {for busses, the bus-specific traffic control is
usually done with a height sensor rather than spaced induction loops}
and let the OCR software & database work out the rest.

A read-only {I.E. cannot be altered} copy of every photo taken is
kept, so if there is dispute, it's easy to look at the picture and
say "Yup, that's definitely a car, and definitely not a taxi, you're
using the lane illegally, stiff.".

It's quite possible this is what the cameras are for - that lane is
misused so often it isn't funny.

DaZZa

 

There are no people involved, beyond those required for maintenance of
the cameras etc.

It's all automatic.

DaZZa

 

What unemployment problem? Unemployment is at around 5% which is considered
economincally perfect. (if everyone had jobs, there'd be no growth or
demand, so 5% keeps the economy chugging along at the desired rate).

 

hmm note smilie ??


* note to self , stop using smilies, no one takes notice

 

It doesn't cost any more for them to transmit 1000 digital images back to
their office than it would to transmit 1 digital image. They could quickly
and cheaply determine which vehicles are legitimate users of the bus lane and
which to send fines to. It must be cost effective because some bus lanes in
Melbourne have been in operation for 20 years.

Nev..
'03 ZX12R