MAYOR DE BLASIO RELEASES FIRST 14th STREET BUSWAY REPORT

Since pilot began in October, bus speeds and ridership have dramatically surged

  Mayor Bill de Blasio today released the first data analysis following the implementation of the Transit & Truck Priority (TTP) Pilot along Manhattan’s 14^th Street in October 2019. The report shows that ridership and travel speeds along the M14 ‘busway” have increased dramatically, with minimal effect on area traffic.  Specifically, bus riders’ crosstown commutes along the M14 are now as much as nine minutes faster while trips in other vehicles along most adjacent streets are less than a minutes lower. Bicycling around the 14^th street corridor, where DOT built new protected bike lanes in 2018 along 12^th and 13^th Streets, has also surged in popularity including on Citi Bikes.

“It’s a new day on 14^th street. We are getting New Yorkers moving and saving them time for the things that matter,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “The early results show that this pilot is speeding up buses while allowing for the car drop-offs and deliveries the neighborhood requires. Under our Better Buses plan, we are making changes citywide to fight congestion and to give people faster and more reliable transit.”

“These initial results are very encouraging and promising, showing the positive impacts when New Yorkers are given reliable, affordable, and faster transit,” said Deputy Mayor Laura Anglin. “We will continue to monitor the data from this pilot and are excited to see the enthusiasm New Yorkers have expressed for this busway.”

“I want to thank the Mayor, whose leadership helped make the 14^th St. Transit and Truck Priority Street a success, as we can see from this first independent status report,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “We at DOT are proud that we could help provide thousands of New Yorkers with a triple-win: safer, more sustainable, and faster transportation choices. And while we will continue to work with NYCT and NYPD to make traffic and operational adjustments in and around the pilot area as needed, we thank all the New Yorkers who have shared their enthusiasm for a new and improved 14^th Street.” 

“We are serious about improving bus service and we need to take bold steps like this to do that,” said Andy Byford, President of MTA New York City Transit. "The 14^th Street Busway is wildly popular with riders enjoying 30-40% faster trips, and that should be replicated throughout the city. The 14^th Street experience proves that dedicated enforced bus priority makes buses the desired mode to get New Yorkers where they want to go — a major victory for our customers and the environment."

“After years of falling ridership, I'm thrilled that people are taking the M14 bus again in big numbers. I'm encouraged by the initial data and I look forward to working closely with DOT and all stakeholders during the course of this pilot program,” said Speaker Corey Johnson.

The TTP pilot limits crosstown traffic along 14^th Street to buses and trucks, but does allow drop-offs from cars as long as drivers take the next available right turn.  The pilot took effect on October 3, following the start of M14A/D Select Bus Service on July 1, 2019. The analysis, conducted by Sam Schwartz Engineering and reviewed by DOT, compares data from May/October 2018 to October 2019, the first of several monitoring reports that will be prepared over the course of the pilot project.  The initial data, the first of regular quarterly reports, had the following major findings:

M14 A/D SBS bus speeds and ridership have significantly increased:

• Using MTA data, the analysis found travel times along the corridor improved at a rate of 22 to 47%, highlighted by a travel time savings of as much as 9.7 minutes end-to-end for riders in the eastbound direction.
• These speed gains exceed the goal of 25% improvement articulated in Mayor de Blasio’s Better Buses plan.
• At the same time, MTA reports that ridership on the M14 A/D has surged by 24%, with greater gains (30%) on weekends. These changes reverse a five-year trend of declining ridership on this route.

Car traffic on adjacent streets slowed in some cases, but by small amounts:

• DOT closely studied local side streets a particular emphasis of the study and the results showed that travel times on 12^th through 19^th Streets increased by 0-2 minutes during weekday peak hours, though 17^th Street saw a 3.4 minute increase in travel time between 3^rd and 9^th Avenues. 
• At the same time, the volume of vehicles on 12^th Street saw very little change and decreased on 13^th Streets.
• Travel times on most nearby avenues have improved or have minor increases of less than 1 minute with the exception of 3^rd Avenue (the east end of the busway), which saw a slightly longer travel time of 1.6 minutes.

Bike ridership, including on Citi Bike, has surged:

·         With no increase in capacity in the community, Citi Bike reported a one-year 17% increase in usage on 14^th Street and surrounding streets during the weekday AM peak, outpacing its growth elsewhere in New York City.

·         Meanwhile, bike volumes along 12^th and 13^th Streets, where DOT installed protected bike lanes in late 2018, increased over one year by as much as 234%.