Eyes on the Street

Eyes on the Street: Bus Lanes Are Coming to Webster Avenue

The Bronx is set to receive its second Select Bus Service route along Webster Avenue and Melrose Avenue. Within a quarter-mile of the route, 61 percent of residents commute by transit, according to DOT, and nearly three-quarters of households are car-free. While buses won't run in the center lanes -- an alignment that Chicago is pursuing on Ashland Avenue because it leads to fewer conflicts with car traffic -- the dedicated transit lanes will extend for more than four miles, from East 167th Street to East Gun Hill Road.

By Stephen Miller

4:26 PM EDT on June 26, 2013

The Bronx is set to receive its second Select Bus Service route along Webster Avenue and Melrose Avenue. Within a quarter-mile of the route, 61 percent of residents commute by transit, according to DOT, and nearly three-quarters of households are car-free. While buses won’t run in the center lanes — an alignment that Chicago is pursuing on Ashland Avenue because it leads to fewer conflicts with car traffic — the dedicated transit lanes will extend for more than four miles, from East 167th Street to East Gun Hill Road.

Completion of the bus lanes and off-board fare collection machines is scheduled to wrap up soon, with service beginning this summer. Next year, DOT is expecting to install bus bulbs — sidewalk expansions that provide more space for passengers and faster boardings at bus stops. Extension of this Select Bus Service route south to the RFK Triborough Bridge and LaGuardia Airport, meanwhile, is still in the study phase.

Stephen Miller

In spring 2017, Stephen wrote for Streetsblog USA, covering the livable streets movement and transportation policy developments around the nation. From August 2012 to October 2015, he was a reporter for Streetsblog NYC, covering livable streets and transportation issues in the city and the region. After joining Streetsblog, he covered the tail end of the Bloomberg administration and the launch of Citi Bike. Since then, he covered mayoral elections, the de Blasio administration's ongoing Vision Zero campaign, and New York City's ever-evolving street safety and livable streets movements.