NYC Buses Still Crawling Despite Mayor's Speed Pledge, Stats Show

NEW YORK — New York City buses are still moving at a snail's pace despite Mayor Bill de Blasio's pledge to speed them up, new statistics show.

MTA buses crawled along at an average of 8.1 MPH citywide last month, slipping slightly from 8.2 MPH in August 2018, according to figures submitted to the MTA Board for its Monday meeting. The 12-month average bus speed in August was 8 MPH, barely up from 7.9 MPH a year before.

Bronx and Brooklyn bus speeds were flat in August compared to the same month last year, MTA figures show. Staten Island's average speed rose just 0.1 MPH to 13.9 MPH, while Manhattan's and Queens's dropped by the same amount to 6 MPH and 8.9 MPH, respectively.

That indicates Mayor Bill de Blasio has an uphill battle in his bid to make the city's slowest-in-the-nation buses travel 25 percent faster by the end of next year. But his Department of Transportation says a plan to do just that is still in its early stages.

"Announced only five months ago, the impact of many of these changes has not yet been felt in MTA data that capture system wide bus-speed trends over the entire last year," a DOT spokesperson said in a statement.

De Blasio, a Democrat, pledged in January to improve bus speeds 25 percent by the end of next year following advocates' persistent demands that the city shore up bus service.

The MTA — a state-run agency — operates the buses, but the city's Department of Transportation oversees the streets on which they run.

The DOT outlined a plan to achieve the mayor's goal in April. The agency has already installed technology at some 300 intersections making it easier for buses to get through green lights, while the NYPD has deployed tow trucks to clear cars from dedicated bus lanes, city officials have said.

The city also plans to install 10 to 15 miles of new bus lanes a year, upgrade five miles of existing bus lanes a year and test out two miles of physically separated bus lanes in 2019, according to the DOT. Additionally, several bus routes have fixed cameras that ticket drivers who block bus lanes.

The DOT says the MTA's new tap-and-go fare payment system and congestion pricing — a plan to toll vehicles entering Manhattan's core — will also help improve bus speeds.

The DOT has sought to ban most private traffic from 14th Street in Manhattan to improve bus service there, but a lawsuit from angry neighbors has held up that plan. City lawyers expect a victory in that case, the DOT says.

The MTA's bus boss said the transit agency will join the city in using technology to keep bus lanes clear.

Fifteen buses now have cameras that will be used to ticket bus lane-blocking drivers, according to Craig Cipriano, the acting senior vice president of New York City Transit's Department of Buses. The cameras will be introduced on the M15 Select Bus Service route early next month and will be installed on 123 buses by the end of November, Cipriano says.

"This technology will capture real-time bus lane violations and we are optimistic that it will make a real difference toward clearing the right of way for our buses and stepping up our efforts to increase bus speeds on congested city streets," Cipriano said in a written report to the MTA Board.