MAYOR ADAMS, MTA HOLD FIRST TRANSIT IMPROVEMENT SUMMIT, ANNOUNCE PLANS TO IMMEDIATELY IMPROVE MASS TRANSIT SERVICE FOR NEW YORKERS

 

Joint Effort Will Bring Faster, More Reliable Bus Service, 150 Miles of New and Enhanced Bus Lanes, Busways Over Four Years

 

Technology Improvements Will Enhance Bus Lane Enforcement and Transit Signal Priority to Speed Up Buses

 

MTA Commits $200 Million to Expand Countdown Clocks, Upgrade Public Announcement Systems in Over 70 Subway Stations

 

City, MTA Reaffirm Collaboration on Subway Safety and Quality-of-Life Improvements

 New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chair and CEO Janno Lieber today announced a new collaborative effort to tangibly improve transit service for New Yorkers, with an emphasis on advancing critical projects to make buses faster, more accessible, and integrated with other transportation options. The new improvements to overall transit system are the result of the first Transit Improvement Summit, a new quarterly effort from the city and the MTA to foster collaboration and continue delivering quality public transit for New Yorkers and visitors. It also builds on a successful partnership between the city and the MTA to promote public safety in the subway and provide services for New Yorkers experiencing unsheltered homelessness.

 

“This partnership is the definition of ‘Get Stuff Done,’” said Mayor Adams. “Together with the MTA, we are delivering the efficient, reliable bus network and transit system all New Yorkers and visitors to our great city deserve. And we will work closely with communities every step of the way to take these much-needed, bold steps together.”

 

“New Yorkers deserve a world-class transit system, and both the MTA and city leadership are committed to working together to bring real, tangible improvements for our riders,” said MTA Chair and CEO Lieber. “This is a new era of city-MTA collaboration that will speed up buses, make the subways safer and more reliable, and prioritize equity and accessibility in mass transit. I thank Mayor Adams and his team and look forward to our continued work ahead.”

 

The new collaboration will prioritize enhancements for the MTA’s bus network, a critical transportation option for millions of New Yorkers, particularly those who live or work outside of Manhattan. The MTA and New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) will complete 150 miles of new and enhanced bus lanes and busways over the next four years, beginning with 20 miles in 2022 on the following corridors, which have total daily ridership of approximately 327,000 passengers, larger than the city of Cincinnati:

 

• Fordham Road and 207^th Street, between 10^th Avenue and White Plains Road in Manhattan and the Bronx (3.0 miles);
• Gun Hill Road, between Bainbridge Avenue and Bartow Avenue in the Bronx (3.8 miles);
• University Avenue, between Kingsbridge Road and Washington Bridge in the Bronx (3.4 miles);
• Westchester Avenue at Pelham Bay Park Station in the Bronx (0.1 miles);
• First Avenue between 61^st Street and 79^th Street in Manhattan (0.9 miles);
• Avenues A and D, various segments in Manhattan (1.0 mile);
• 21^st Street, between the RFK Bridge and the Queensboro Bridge in Queens (3.4 miles); and
• Northern Boulevard, between Broadway and 114^th Street in Queens (5.4 miles).

 

Additionally, NYCDOT will make permanent the Main Street busway in Queens, which launched as a pilot in January 2021. The busway has increased bus speeds by up to 50 percent and supports 155,000 riders per day.

 

The city and the MTA will also immediately launch planning and community outreach for the next round of new bus priority projects at the following locations:

 

• Tremont Avenue in the Bronx,
• Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn,
• Livingston Street in Brooklyn,
• Northern Broadway in Manhattan, and
• Second Avenue in Manhattan.

 

These critical bus corridor priorities will complement ongoing bus network redesign projects to make service faster, more frequent, and more reliable. The Bronx Local Bus Network Redesign will be implemented on June 26, and public engagement on the Queens Local Bus Network Redesign draft plan is ongoing. The MTA will also release a draft bus network redesign plan for Brooklyn and kick-off public engagement by the end of 2022.

 

To further speed up buses, NYCDOT will expand automated enforcement and transit signal priority at traffic signals, installing 50 additional fixed bus lane cameras on new and existing bus lanes — on top of the previous commitment to install 50 cameras. The MTA will match this commitment by expanding the on-bus Automated Bus Lane Enforcement (ABLE) program from the current 123 buses across seven routes on the ABLE program to another 300 buses by the end of 2022, covering an additional nine routes across all five boroughs. Current projections call for a further 600 bus addition by the end of 2023, and NYCDOT plans to add transit signal priority at 750 more intersections next year. To maximize the cameras’ impact, MTA and NYCDOT will jointly engage state lawmakers to advance future bus camera enforcement legislation in Albany that would (1) make the existing ABLE program permanent and (2) expand automated bus and stationary camera enforcement of certain city traffic rules — including double parking and illegal parking at bus stops — to speed up bus trips for riders across New York City.

 

The MTA and NYCDOT will also prioritize bicycle, micromobility, and pedestrian access to transit with improvements to bike infrastructure, additional bike parking, and siting of micromobility share systems near subway stations and major bus stops. The MTA will also ensure that pedestrian curb ramps that are impacted by capital projects are replaced by accessible curb ramps built to modern accessibility standards. This work will be formalized in the MTA’s Strategic Action Plan released at the end of 2022.

 

Building upon the successful partnership in the Subway Safety Plan, the MTA and the city will continue to address quality-of-life issues in the subway system, including cleanliness and lighting. With a $200 million commitment, the MTA will expand subway countdown clocks, improve public announcement systems, and integrate LCD signage at 71 subway stations most in need of upgrades. Currently in the design phase, this project will cover a wide range of neighborhoods, including:

 

• Tremont and Kingsbridge in the Bronx;
• Sunset Park, Brighton Beach, and East New York in Brooklyn;
• Midtown Manhattan and Lower Manhattan; and
• Jamaica and the Rockaways in Queens.

 

In addition, the MTA and city are coordinating to combat fare and toll evasion, beginning with a crackdown on defaced and fraudulent temporary license plates, which cost the city and the MTA more than $100 million combined per year in lost revenue and are correlated to other criminal behavior.

 

As the partnership continues, the MTA and the city have agreed to collaborate in several critical areas for providing the transit system New York City deserves, including:

 

• Accessibility improvements to transit;
• Stormwater resiliency;
• Connecting transit-oriented development and neighborhood planning to transportation infrastructure investment; and
• Collaborate on fare initiatives, including the city’s Fair Fares program, Freedom Ticket, and CityTicket for Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road.

 

This new partnership comes as the city and the MTA have been successfully implementing the Subway Safety Plan with a focus on providing social services and access to shelter at end-of-line stations to New Yorkers sheltering in the subway system. As part of this effort, MTA and city staff working groups have been meeting regularly since January to craft solutions to New York City’s transit challenges and improve service for riders.

 

“A safe, high-performing, and reliable public transit system is a necessity if we are to realize a full economic recovery for the City of New York and the broader metropolitan region,” said New York City First Deputy Mayor Lorraine Grillo. “This renewed partnership between the city and the MTA will elevate a solutions-oriented approach that will produce results for the millions who depend on public transit every day.”

 

“To the riding public, we are one city, and through our renewed collaboration with the MTA, we will, as one city, improve and expand transit service for millions of New Yorkers who depend on it every day,” said New York City Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “The Transit Improvement Summit will bring tangible changes that are vital to our city’s economic, social, and environmental health.”

 

“New York City’s economic recovery and long-term vitality are inextricably tied to a successful transit system,” said New York City Deputy Mayor for Economic and Workforce Development Maria Torres-Springer. “That is why we are eager to deepen our partnership with the MTA and proactively shape and build the jobs, housing, and transit infrastructure necessary for a stronger and more equitable New York City.”

 

“Today’s summit is another happy milestone in the welcome new era of productive relations between New York City and New York State,” said NYCDOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “With the mayor’s relentless focus on equity, we now have an ambitious plan to ‘Get Stuff Done’ for the millions of bus riders across the five boroughs. We at DOT look forward to working with our MTA partners to build a safer and more efficient system, with more new and enhanced bus lanes, expanded automated enforcement, as well as new ways that our agencies will work together to improve access for the growing number of cyclists.”

 

“This partnership is improving the customer experience for everyone who uses New York City Transit,” said New York City Transit President Richard Davey. “The commitment of Mayor Adams and his administration to this collaborative effort will make a difference, and I am excited to see the enhancements we discussed today improve the rider’s experience in the coming months.”