New Yorkers Can Soon Make An Unfathomable Amount Of Money Just By Reporting Cars Blocking Bike Lanes And Then Receiving 25 Percent Of The Ticket Revenue

Bloomberg — It’s a familiar experience for pedestrians and bicyclists — a car or truck parked in a bike lane or on the sidewalk forces a detour into the street — and into traffic. When vehicles block these travel paths, it's not just an annoyance and safety hazard. It’s illegal.

Now a New York City Council member is pushing a bill that would give civilians the power to report bike lane scofflaws, as well as vehicles that block entrances or exits of school buildings, sidewalks and crosswalks. New Yorkers who submit evidence of a parking violation can earn 25% of a proposed $175 ticket. The Department of Transportation would review the evidence to determine whether an infraction has occurred, according to the bill’s text.

Council Member Lincoln Restler said the bill is necessary because the New York City Police Department, which has traditionally been responsible for enforcing these traffic rules, isn’t giving out enough tickets. The number of traffic citations issued in the city increased from fiscal 2021 to fiscal 2022, but remains nearly 50% below pre-pandemic levels, according to the Mayor’s Management Report.

There's a non-zero chance this becomes my full-time job within the next year. I was born for this.

I don't know that there's been a single time I've ridden a Citi Bike in New York and not come across some asshole blocking the bike lane at some point along the way. It's an epidemic. There are other issues I'd have picked for the city council to address before this one, but the New York City government doing anything at all is a win.

The 25 percent of the $175 ticket comes out to $43.75, meaning you could make $100,000 a year by finding nine bike lane blockers per day — and that's only at five days a week. I'd guess you could get that done in about two hours anywhere in midtown. Someone is going to make this their full-time job and they'll make an absolute killing.

There's apparently already a similar program for idling trucks that somebody made $64,000 from last year and I'd guess there are easily five times more cars blocking bike lanes.

This is how I'm going to pay for my children's college. If they ever add people walking in the bike lane to this bill, I'll be a millionaire in short order.