NYC Should Ban Cars From More Major Streets, Speaker Says

NEW YORK — City Council Speaker Corey Johnson called for car-free busways on more major streets Monday as the city's transit experiment on 14th Street shows early signs of success.

MTA bus speeds and ridership have shot up on the crosstown corridor since the Department of Transportation banned private cars there early this month — leading Johnson to suggest the scheme could work elsewhere.

"I think we should look at it on 34th Street, on 42nd Street, on these major thoroughfares," the Chelsea Democrat said Monday on WNYC.

"People are calling it the miracle on 14th Street," he added. "When was the last time you heard anyone rave about getting on a bus and moving across town quickly?"

The Department of Transportation has prohibited most private vehicle traffic on 14th Street since Oct. 3 in a bid to clear a path for public buses and delivery trucks. The busway, born from the now-scrapped plans for a full shutdown of the L subway line, was implemented only after a lengthy and acrimonious court fight led by West Village and Chelsea residents.

Opponents of the plan worried it would clog side streets with traffic by forcing cars off the 14th Street thoroughfare. But early data indicate those fears were unfounded, as traffic speeds have remained essentially the same on neighboring roads.

Johnson said he was among those who worried about collateral damage to local traffic, but admitted his predictions have not come true. "I was skeptical ... but I was wrong," he said.

"The MTA is already saying what a success this has been," Johnson said. "The number of people have gone up on a weekly basis and on the weekends, so that is a really great thing. But we’re gonna look at this data and we’re gonna see how to improve it even more. "