Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the MTA on Wednesday released a new plan to speed up buses for 2 million New Yorkers along some of the most sluggish routes in the city, adjusting streetlights and allowing riders to board through the rear doors.
The initiative aims to increase bus speeds by 20% along 50 “priority corridors” that have the slowest buses and relatively high ridership.
The city transportation department said it would move forward with 28 ongoing street redesigns that provide buses with dedicated lanes, while also rolling out new technology that gives buses a head start at streetlights.
The MTA said it would allow passengers to board through rear bus doors by 2027 — something transit officials have previously said could fuel more fare evasion.
Mamdani, who does not control the state-run MTA, campaigned on making the city’s buses “fast and free.” MTA Chair Janno Lieber has resisted eliminating bus fares entirely.
But the mayor does control the streets — and the release of Wednesday’s plan marks his most significant announcement to speed up bus service since taking office.
“Bus service shouldn't be treated as a second-rate option or a last resort to get around our city at the mercy of traffic congestion. It should be a world-class system for a world-class city,” DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn said. “ Fast, comfortable, reliable, and convenient enough so that every New Yorker regards the bus as a convenient way to get around.”
The effort to speed up buses will include creating a “world-class” bus route on Flatbush Avenue by 2030, extending an ongoing project that adds center-running lanes for buses along the busy Brooklyn corridor between Livingston Street and Grand Army Plaza.
It includes adding the yearly installation of 25 “queue jump” signals, which are separate traffic lights for buses that get a green light before other vehicles.
The plan also aims to add 35 other signals that recognize when a bus is approaching and maintain a green light.
The city is betting that modern streetlight technology at dozens of intersections will speed up buses.
Officials touted the announcement as the first joint DOT and MTA plan in 10 years that “resets the relationship to center on a new set of shared goals,” according to language in a presentation.
“In a place where every minute counts, some buses crawl at 5 mph. The wealthiest city in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world shouldn’t have some of the slowest buses in America,” Mamdani wrote in the planning document.
The announcement builds on Mamdani’s growing number of street redesign projects that aim to speed up buses, including Madison and Lexington Avenues, Sixth Avenue, Fordham Road, as well as Flatbush Avenue.
The city reports that 90% of bus routes lack bus-lane infrastructure.
Mamdani, MTA officials and Gov. Kathy Hochul are expected to announce the plan in Brooklyn on Wednesday morning.
"Every day, millions of New Yorkers rely on buses to get around this city, but for far too long, making their journeys faster and their lives easier has seemed out of reach. That all changes today," Hochul wrote in a statement.
The new goals also include basic things to make bus riders’ lives easier, like better seating and more accessible bus stops. The plan calls for 300 new bus shelters by 2028 and the addition of seating at 875 bus stops this year.
