"Turning the campaign poetry of "fast and free buses" into the governing prose of real improvements is not a fait accompli, as any transit planner knows. However, with unwavering commitment to prioritize bus riders over private vehicles, and a strong working relationship with the state-run MTA, Mamdani, who will oversee the Department of Transportation, and Gov. Hochul, who oversees the MTA, have the potential to revolutionize the city's buses to the benefit of all New Yorkers."
"Technically speaking, the question of how to speed up the city's bus system is not a difficult one. Buses face three main sources of delay: traffic congestion, intersections, and bus stops. Transit experts have a slew of tools to address all these things - ranging from bus lanes to transit signal priority to bus stop balancing. Writer Jake Berman wrote recently in Streetsblog about how European cities have harnessed these tools."
Zohran Mamdani's election creates an opportunity to transform the city's slow buses if the mayor prioritizes bus riders over private vehicles and uses political capital to enact changes. Proven technical tools can speed buses by tackling congestion, intersections, and stop-related delays through bus lanes, transit signal priority, and stop balancing. The National Association of City Transportation Officials' Transit Street Design Guide provides detailed recommendations, and the city and MTA have implemented many such measures over two decades. The principal barriers are political: reallocating street space will face vocal opposition from car-based interests and allied elected officials, requiring firm political commitment.
Read at Streetsblog
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