What you should know
- The MTA will add 300 cameras on board buses next year and the city will expand the enforcement of cameras on bus lanes, covering 85% of all bus lanes by the end of 2023.
- New York City will add or improve 20 miles of bus lanes, including up to five new pilot bus lanes beginning in 2022. Traffic signal priority expands to an additional 750 intersections.
- The OMNY payment system will be placed at all bus gates on 10 local routes. The MTA bus network will also be redesigned to restart this fall with local buses from the Bronx with the goal of implementation in the summer of 2022. In addition, the MTA and the city will improve real-time information for bus users.
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NEW YORK – The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) announced Wednesday an ambitious plan to improve the New York City bus network.
The MTA and NYCDOT will build on ongoing efforts that have led to faster speed buses and implement new initiatives to enhance the customer experience and ensure that the MTA’s bus system, which carried 2.1 million buses passengers daily before the pandemic, be ready to support New York City’s recovery.
“We carry more people on our buses than the next four largest systems in the United States combined, and for entire neighborhoods in the city, including many underserved communities and communities of color, our buses are the only public transportation option to get to work. , to school and to access all the opportunities New York has to offer, ”said MTA President and Acting CEO Janno Lieber. “Our goal today and every day is to provide a bus service for our customers that is faster, more reliable and more accessible. This package of initiatives, which includes more bus lanes, more bus lanes, better enforcement of bus lanes and better accessibility at bus stops, delivers on that promise. “
These are the proposals to improve the New York City bus system:
New and improved bus lanes and lanes
The MTA and NYCDOT agree that bus lanes and lanes are among the most effective tools for increasing bus speeds. Beginning in 2022, NYCDOT will embark on major projects to add or improve 20 miles of bus lanes, including up to five new pilot bus lanes. These projects, developed over the next few months in coordination with the MTA, will be designed to serve bus users in critical areas of the city.
Dedicated bus lanes have yielded outstanding results across the city in recent years. On the popular Calle 14 busway, travel times have improved by 36% in the last year over previous travel times to the busway. In the Bronx, the Bx6 SBS route began operating along dedicated bus lanes in 2017, and travel times improved between 11% and 16%.
In April, the MTA worked with NYCDOT to launch the busway pilot program 181 St in Washington Heights that has increased bus speeds by up to 34% and improved commute times for passengers on five Bronx routes traveling to and from Manhattan. This unprecedented improvement followed the installation of a pilot bus track in Main Street in Flushing, Queens, in January 2021. Average bus speeds along the busway in Main St they were up to 25% faster during the peak periods between October 2020 and May 2021.
In July 2020, compensated bus lanes were installed in 149 St in the Bronx for passengers on lines Bx2, Bx4, Bx17 and Bx19. This installation work has been successful in speeding up travel times in heavily populated parts of the county. Average speeds of buses throughout 149 St they were up to 14% faster during the peak periods between October 2019 and May 2021.
Extended application of cameras in the bus lane
A key to speeding up bus service is more frequent and consistent enforcement of bus lane and highway rules, especially for delivery vehicles and other chronic offenders. Camera control technology in bus lanes currently exists in all five boroughs, and the MTA and NYCDOT have agreed to expand the camera application to cover up to 85% of existing bus lanes by the end of 2023.
To reach that goal, the MTA has pledged to triple the number of cameras on board buses by 2022, adding 300 cameras, with a plan to add at least 600 more by 2023.
NYCDOT will complement this effort by adding fixed cameras on up to 15 new corridors in 2022. Fixed cameras will work in conjunction with bus cameras to reduce the number of cars and other illegal vehicles in bus lanes.
Traffic sign priority expansion
The MTA and NYCDOT will expand Traffic Signal Priority (TSP) to an additional 750 intersections citywide in 2022. TSP helps buses spend less time at red lights by allowing buses approaching an intersection to obtain a shorter red light or an extended green light in real time.
The MTA partnered with NYCDOT to install this effective technology at more than 1,700 intersections throughout the city since 2012, and the pace of installation has grown substantially despite the pandemic. In partnership with the MTA, NYCDOT added 648 intersections with TSP in 2020. This year, more than 300 intersections have already been operational.
Redesign of the bus network
The bus network redesigns are among the most important improvements the MTA can make to ensure that New Yorkers receive the proper bus service, so the MTA will restart its bus network redesign program this fall, beginning with the resumption of the Bronx local bus redesign to be implemented next summer.
The MTA will monitor emerging passenger patterns and incorporate these patterns in its next redesign to better match bus service with current and future travel demands. Public disclosure is expected to begin early this fall. The MTA will coordinate redesign plans with NYCDOT to ensure that the redesigned networks have the necessary bus priority.
Implementation of the OMNY payment system
One of the most anticipated features among bus passengers is the implementation on all bus doors of the OMNY contactless fare payment system.
In December 2020, the MTA announced that approximately 15,000 OMNY readers had been installed on the MTA’s 5,800 bus fleet. On pilot routes, customers using OMNY will be able to enter through any door in an effort to speed up boarding times.
The expectation is to implement the all-door boarding on all buses by the time the MetroCard is retired by the end of 2023.
Commitment to accessibility
Improving accessibility to the bus network is a top priority for MTA and NYCDOT. The entire MTA bus fleet has been made accessible under the ADA, but other barriers remain. NYCDOT will undertake new projects focused on improving the physical accessibility of bus stops across the city, and has focused on accessibility improvements for 25 bus stops in 2022.
Throughout 2021 and 2022, the MTA expects to commission more than 800 new buses, approximately 17% of its local fleet, with more flexible seating options in the priority and courtesy seating area designed to accommodate the diverse customer needs.
Improved bus schedules and real-time information
All of the initiatives established by the MTA and NYCDOT seek to greatly improve the customer experience. To take advantage of all existing and future improvements, the MTA will improve bus schedules on at least 15 routes in an effort to reduce travel times.
In addition to improving schedules, the MTA and NYCDOT will update information in real time for bus riders. The MTA is adding more than 1,000 onboard digital information displays by the end of 2022, bringing the total number of buses equipped with these displays to approximately 64% of the fleet.
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