As New York City's ailing bus system inches toward a potential death spiral, transit advocates say they've identified a cheap, relatively simple strategy for improving speeds and reliability: making it so bus stops aren't literally right next to each other.
According to a new report released by a coalition of transportation experts, there are currently dozens of bus stops that do not meet the MTA's own standards for spacing. Thirty-two pairs of stops are less than 260 feet apart, or about the length of a city block.
The MTA's guidelines say stops should be at least 750 feet apart, and international best practices put that number at 1,000 feet or more. Meanwhile, the Bronx's BX26 bus makes consecutive stops on East Gun Hill Road—on Gunther and Allerton Avenues—that are just 207 feet apart, as it crawls along at a speed of 6.6 miles-per-hour.
In recognition of this dense and uncorrected bit of transit planning, the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign, Tri-State Transportation Campaign, and TransitCenter bestowed the first-ever "Cozy Award" to that pair of stops on Monday.
"Our analysis of the city's closest bus stops not only shows that there are too many stops within a block or less of one another; it shows that the overall trend of bus stops is that they're too close together, slowing bus speeds for everyone,” said Nick Sifuentes, executive director for Tri-State Transportation Campaign. “The logic behind balancing bus stop spacing is simple: the more time a bus spends at stops, the less time it spends getting people where they need to be.
The most closely-spaced bus stop pairs in each borough
The second worst offender in this survey was found along Brooklyn's B54 route, where a pair of stops on Myrtle Avenue between Vanderbilt and Clinton are just 210 feet apart. The tight squeeze contributes to average bus speeds of 5.2 miles-per-hour on the line, with nearly 10 percent of buses plagued by "bunching" (a phenomenon where several buses arrive at the same time, and therefore not on schedule).
Overall, Brooklyn had the the coziest stops of any borough, with 11 stop pairs closer than 262 feet, according to the report.
In a statement, Craig Cipriano, acting president of the MTA Bus Company, acknowledged that New York has "closer bus stop spacing than most cities around the world, which together with congested city streets contribute to extremely slow bus speeds."
The ongoing borough bus system redesign plan is focused on "examining this issue," the official said. Advocates note that the plan does not currently address the coziest stops in the city, along the BX26.
A spokesperson for the MTA declined to share a list of stops that are under consideration for elimination, but said a final draft plan for the Bronx redesign would be shared in mid-October.
Past MTA attempts to balance bus stops have occasionally met resistance from residents. Earlier this year, disability advocates filed a lawsuit to block the MTA from implementing Select Bus Service on 14th Street, which involved removing 12 local stops.
The MTA's own research has shown that most riders are supportive of better stop balancing. Public feedback from the Bronx network redesign found that 63 percent of customers preferred fewer stops, compared to 37 percent who wanted more stops, according to the transit agency.
"If the MTA does its job right," added Sifuentes, "2019 could be the only year we'll be issuing Cozy Awards at all."
