Fast Buses: Mayor Mamdani Breaks Ground on Offset Bus Lanes on Fordham Road

Project will speed up service for 130,000 daily riders along the Bronx’s busiest bus corridor  

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Mike Flynn today broke ground on the redesign of Fordham Road, adding new offset bus lanes from Sedgwick Avenue to Boston Road in the Bronx. The project will make commutes faster and more reliable for 130,000 daily bus riders while delivering critical safety upgrades on one of the borough’s highest-crash corridors. 

“We’re not only promising fast buses, we’re delivering them,” said Mayor Mamdani. “This year, Fordham Road riders won’t have to watch their time disappear in traffic while cars block bus lanes that were meant for people. This project will give 130,000 New Yorkers faster, more reliable commutes every day so they can spend more time doing what they love and less time stuck in traffic.” 

 

“Fordham Road buses are a lifeline for many Bronxites, and yet their commutes to work, to visit family and to visit friends are slow and unreliable,” said NYC DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn. “This redesign will give bus riders much-needed relief with faster and more reliable service while still accommodating vehicle traffic in the area. Where we’ve installed similar designs, we’ve seen bus speeds increase as much as 28%, and we’ll continue monitoring the corridor for further improvements as needed.” 

 

“With this project now underway, Fordham Road is at the center of New York’s burgeoning bus renaissance,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. “Things are taking off now because we finally have City partners who share MTA’s vision for a better bus network, and that starts with more dedicated bus lanes.” 

 

“Every change we can make to the street infrastructure goes a long way in improving bus service, whether that be improving speeds, accessibility or reliability,” said MTA New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow. “Simply put, better bus infrastructure leads to better bus service. And offset lanes like the ones being built here will help improve all three. These lanes mean that 130,000 Bronx riders will get where they need to go faster, more safely and more reliably.” 

 

Today, buses on Fordham Road travel as slowly as 5 mph, with existing curbside bus lanes frequently blocked by deliveries and passenger pick-ups and drop-offs. The City will convert those curbside lanes into offset lanes that better separate buses from general traffic while creating dedicated parking and loading spaces to support local businesses. Similar redesigns across the city have increased bus speeds by as much as 28% while reducing pedestrian and cyclist injuries by as much as 30%. 

 

In this section of the Bronx, 62% of households do not have access to a private vehicle, and 71% of residents rely on public transit, biking or walking to get around. 

 

In February, Mayor Mamdani announced the City would restart work on the Fordham Road redesign after years of delays under the previous administration. Construction begins just weeks after the release of Next Stop, the City’s historic partnership with New York State to shorten commutes by up to six minutes across 175 bus routes, including Fordham Road. 

 

Since January, the Mamdani administration has advanced major projects to speed up buses across the five boroughs, including on Fordham Road, 161st Street and Tremont Avenue in the Bronx; 34th Street, 116th Street, Madison Avenue and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan; Marcy Avenue, Flatbush Avenue, Utica Avenue, Church Avenue and Linden Boulevard in Brooklyn; Victory Boulevard on Staten Island; and Broadway in Queens.