Mamdani restarts plan for 34th Street busway that Trump halted
Credit: NYC DOT
Plans to turn Manhattan’s 34th Street into a dedicated busway are back on. Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) on Tuesday announced that work will restart on the busway, which will cover just over a mile of the corridor from Third to Ninth Avenues. Plans for the busway, which aims to increase speeds for buses that currently move as slowly as 3 miles per hour, were first announced by former Mayor Eric Adams last May, but were halted a few months later after threats from President Trump’s administration.
Modeled after the 14th Street busway, which launched in 2019, the project would dedicate lanes of traffic for buses, trucks, and emergency vehicles between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. every day of the week. Cars and taxis can enter via side streets, but must leave the corridor at the next legal turn.
According to the city, the new busway could boost speeds by up to 15 percent for more than two dozen bus routes along the corridor, including the M34/M34A Select Bus Service. Serving about 28,000 daily riders, the line travels just 5 miles per hour during peak hours, and as slow as 3 miles per hour, according to DOT.
The 34th Street busway would also include pedestrian improvements such as shorter crosswalks and brighter markings.
“Too many New Yorkers spend too much time waiting on buses stuck in traffic. The 34th Street busway will change that, turning one of our most congested bus corridors into one that actually moves,” Mamdani said.
“This is how we build a transit system that meets the scale of our city: fast, reliable, and built for the people who depend on it every day.”
The city officially halted the project in October after the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) sent a letter laying out concerns over the busway, which is in the federal government’s purview because it connects to the national highway system. The agency said there was a lack of coordination between city and state transportation officials and the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Council. If the project was implemented without addressing concerns, the city was risking funding for “pending and future Federal-aid projects,” according to the FHWA.
City Hall spokesperson Jeremy Edwards told the New York Times the city had been in “active communications with the federal government” on the busway’s restart. Edwards said the city would add the plan to the Transportation Improvement Program, a list of upcoming state projects that involve federal planning.
According to the mayor, busways in the city have increased bus speeds by up to 60 percent while reducing injuries by 45 percent. On 14th Street, traffic injuries declined by nearly 60 percent following the implementation of the busway.
DOT said public outreach will begin this month, with plans to install street infrastructure later in the summer. Construction is expected to wrap up by this fall.
“34th Street is one of Manhattan’s busiest corridors, moving tens of thousands of New Yorkers every day — yet buses are too often stuck in traffic, slowing down commutes and making service unreliable,” NYC DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn said.
“The 34th Street busway will help deliver faster bus service for riders, safer conditions for pedestrians and a more efficient street for everyone who depends on it.”
RELATED:
