NYC To Restore Bronx Bus Lanes And Brooklyn Bike Projects

NEW YORK, NY — Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday announced plans to reinstate two transit projects halted under former Mayor Eric Adams. The city will install offset bus lanes on Fordham Road in the Bronx and build a two-way protected bike lane on Ashland Place in Brooklyn.

“New Yorkers deserve fast, reliable bus service and to feel safe when they’re traveling with their families and loved ones on city streets,” Mike Flynn, the city’s transportation commissioner, said.

The Fordham Road project targets the borough’s busiest bus corridor. The redesign will place dedicated lanes away from the curb to reduce conflicts with parked vehicles. The plan does not create a car-free busway, an option some transit advocates had sought. Adams scrapped an earlier, more expansive redesign after local objections and replaced it with a scaled-back version.

The Ashland Place bike lane had been canceled nearly three years ago under the Adams administration. Cyclists later nicknamed the block “Crashland.” Once complete, the lane will link existing protected segments from Dumbo to Sunset Park, city officials said.

Mamdani, who campaigned on making city buses “fast and free,” has prioritized street redesigns since taking office six weeks ago. He also plans to expand protected bike lanes in Midwood, Flatbush, and East Flatbush, and add lanes along Dorchester and Cortelyou Roads, as well as Brooklyn and Kingston Avenues. City officials said construction timelines will be released in the coming weeks.

“Together we are building a city that everyone can navigate with ease,” Mamdani said at the press conference.

MTA Chair Janno Lieber has said that proposals to make city buses free require careful study because of their financial and operational impact on the transit system. In comments last year, he noted that bus fare revenue is projected to approach $1 billion annually as ridership rebounds and fare evasion declines, and raised questions about how eliminating those fares could affect service planning and funding for the broader system.

He suggested that increased ridership from free fares would likely require more buses, additional drivers and expanded facilities, and that any shift could influence subway revenue and MTA borrowing tied to fare-backed bonds.

Lieber also has voiced support for targeting affordability programs to low‑income riders rather than universal fare elimination, saying such approaches may provide better value while safeguarding revenue.

“I just want to reemphasize that today is about fast, and the city is really stepping up its game dramatically to make good on that,” Lieber said. “We’re going to continue dialogue on other issues.”