MTA Pushes Bus Lane Expansion As NYC Relaxes Social Distancing

NEW YORK, NY — As New York City begins to reopen portions of its economy the MTA is pushing a plan to expand the city's bus lane and busway network to provide New Yorkers returning to work with safe alternatives to the subway, transit officials announced this week.

The MTA identified 60 miles of city streets that are well-suited for bus lanes and bus ways, according to a letter sent to the city administration by New York City Transit Interim President Sarah Feinberg. Feinberg recommends implementing the new lanes, which would improve speeds on bus routes, "as quickly as possible."

"In this difficult time, it’s more important than ever that we transport customers as quickly and effectively as possible. With city streets virtually empty in the last few months, we saw average bus speeds rise and commute times drop dramatically. Now with ridership steadily growing (from ~400,000 at our lowest point to 715,000 on June 2) and car congestion returning, we must act to maintain these improvements for our essential customers," Feinberg wrote in the letter.

New York City Transit is calling for bus lanes and busways on the following streets:

• The Bronx's East 149th Street, E.L. Grant Highway, Tremont Avenue, Fordham Road and University Ave;
• Brooklyn's Flatbush Avenue between Avenue H and Empire Blvd;
• Staten Island's Bay Street between the St George Ferry Terminal and Canal Street, Richmond Terrace between the St George Ferry Terminal and Jersey Street.
• Manhattan's 181st St. between Broadway and Amsterdam Ave. (busway);
• Queens' Main St. between Kissena Blvd. and Northern Blvd. (busway) and Archer Avenue between 146th St. and 168th St. (busway)
• Brooklyn's Livingston Street between Court Street and Flatbush Avenue (busway).

Bus lanes dedicate specific lanes of traffic to buses during peak hours, whereas busways dedicate entire stretches of roads where buses have priority over private vehicles.

During a Friday morning appearance on NY1, Feinberg said that the mayor's administration has not responded to the letter. The MTA and Mayor Bill de Blasio clashed this week over plans to make subways and buses safe as New York City enters phase one of its coronavirus reopening on Monday. De Blasio recommended having some buses and trains skip stops and making passengers avoid sitting next to each other to reduce crowding.

De Blasio made a vague commitment to "double down on buses" during a Wednesday press conference this week, but did not offer specifics on a plan.

"We got to get back to the process of creating faster bus service. I'll have more to say on that as we can get through these next days, obviously, but we do want to absolutely deepen that effort... I think people do feel more safety right now in health terms, in the buses than they do in the subways," de Blasio said Wednesday.

The MTA is planning to reverse dramatic service cuts to public transit made when the city implemented social distancing measures in March. Despite the restored service, overnight subway service will still be shut down to disinfect trains.