As New York City reopens, New Yorkers will once again be relying on mass transit to get around, and with that in mind Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today that the city will expand bus service through 20 new miles of busways and bus lanes. Additionally, the highly successful 14th Street busway will be made permanent.

The MTA called the move "a step in the right direction," but still not fully adequate to meet the demand for bus ridership—the transit agency had asked the de Blasio administration for 60 miles of new lanes, while transit advocates and some of the city's elected officials had requested at least 40.

Asked about these discrepancies, the mayor insisted that today's announcement was "a major step" that "opens the door to something really positive."

In total, there will be five new busways similar to 14th Street's, and four new bus lanes, including a busway on 5th Avenue from 57th to 34th. A busway effectively bans passenger vehicles during peak commuting times, though trucks are still permitted, and for-hire cars are allowed to make pickups and drop-offs, provided they take the first available right turn.

These additions will help to "increase bus speeds and reliability along major corridors in all five boroughs and address concerns over the growth in vehicular traffic," the Mayor's Office said in a statement.

In May, de Blasio noted we'll likely see an increase in vehicular traffic, as more New Yorkers have turned to private automobiles throughout the pandemic.

DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said they hope to finish everything this year; it is estimated that the 9 projects combined "will benefit nearly 750,000 daily riders."

Here is the list of projects that will begin this month, from the Mayor's Office:

  • 149th Street, Bronx: DOT will implement offset bus lanes for most of the 2.7-mile corridor from Southern Boulevard to River Avenue. 149th Street carries four bus routes with a total of 55,000 daily riders, and serves as a vital connection to 10 subway lines, the HUB, and Lincoln Medical Center.
  • The 14th Street Busway, Manhattan: The 14th Street Busway pilot has received international attention, as it has successfully increased bus speeds by as much as 24% and ridership by as much as 30%. The City will make this pilot project permanent. The project, which serves approximately 28,000 daily riders of the M14, combines blocks of exclusive access and standard bus lanes to provide bus priority from 9th Avenue to 1st Avenue. DOT will add 0.8 miles of new bus lane from 1st Avenue to Avenue C.
  • Main Street, Flushing: DOT will add a busway to a .3-mile northbound stretch of Main Street, where it meets the terminus of the 7 train. The street currently features bus and truck priority treatments in the southbound direction that have resulted in a 23% increase in bus speeds between 2017 and 2018. The enhancement will run along Main Street and Kissena Boulevard as it connects to Main Street and will continue to Northern Boulevard. Bus routes that travel along Main Street carry about 150,000 rides per day.

Here is the full list of "bus priority improvements" that the administration says will happen in 2020.

Courtesy of the DOT

Following the 14th Street Busway pilot last year, the MTA and the Department of Transportation celebrated when numbers came in — they found the M14A/D’s average running time dropped by 5 minutes since the busway went into effect.

At his press briefing this morning, Governor Andrew Cuomo was asked if the city was doing enough, given the MTA had requested 60 miles of bus lanes, not 20.

"I haven't heard the Mayor's announcement but obviously there's a disparity," Cuomo said.