NYC Busway Returns With Faster Commutes

NEW YORK, NY — New York City will move forward with a long-delayed busway on Manhattan's 34th Street, city officials announced, reviving a project designed to speed bus service for more than 28,000 daily riders while reducing traffic injuries along one of the borough's busiest crosstown corridors.

The busway will operate between Third and Ninth avenues and restrict through traffic to buses, trucks and emergency vehicles.

Subscribe

Drivers seeking local access will still be allowed to enter the corridor but must make the next available turn to exit.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the project addresses chronic delays that leave riders stuck in traffic.

“Too many New Yorkers spend too much time waiting on buses stuck in traffic," Mamdani said. "The 34th Street busway will change that, turning one of our most congested bus corridors into one that actually moves."

The city modeled the project after the 14th Street busway, which transportation officials cite as one of New York City's most successful transit-priority initiatives.

The corridor carries tens of thousands of riders each day but also ranks among the city's more dangerous streets.

The Department of Transportation designated 34th Street a Vision Zero Priority Corridor because of its history of severe crashes. Between 2020 and 2024, traffic crashes injured 324 people along the route.

Transportation officials said busways elsewhere in the city have increased bus speeds by as much as 60 percent while reducing injuries by as much as 45 percent. On 14th Street, traffic injuries fell nearly 60 percent after the busway opened.

The 34th Street busway will operate daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

City officials said traffic studies found surrounding streets could absorb diverted vehicles without significant increases in travel times.

The Department of Transportation plans to begin public outreach this month, install street infrastructure later in the summer and complete construction by the end of the fall.