Improving Bus Quality in NYC
People-Oriented Cities' founders were instrumental in spreading Bus Rapid Transit systems from their origins in Latin America to Asia, Africa, and the United States. Through our work on BRT, we have learned all aspects of bus network and bus infrast We are now working in New York City to improve the quality of the bus.
New York City, one of the world’s greatest cities, often fails, in its transportation planning efforts, to look
to the world’s other great cities for inspiration. Select Bus Service (SBS) was a small step in the right
direction but a far cry from the full-fledged BRT systems in many other cities. NYCDOT’s “Better Buses"
program is an opportunity to right these wrongs. But the designs released so far demonstrate
that little progress has been made towards gaining the internal capacity needed to design world-class
busways.
The Congestion Pricing "pause" has further demonstrated that New York State is not truly serious about improving transit in NYC .
The Bus Network Redesign efforts in NYC have been more positive; however, the MTA has had a challenging time conveying the benefits of these important projects, resulting in the watering down of the redesigns. Additionally, some technical issues remain with the NYC redesigns.
Poor design of the bus system in NYC, like the Congestion Pricing "pause", could set back bus reform efforts, and New York City’s air quality, for at least a decade. If designed and built properly, however, NYC could have a better, more resilient transit system which attracts people out of their cars and is a true weapon in the fight against climate change.
