Queue Jumps: A Simple Fix to Speed Up NYC’s Buses

By David Meyer
Oct 5, 2016

With the City Council set to take on NYC’s declining bus service tomorrow morning, here’s a look at one of the many strategies DOT and the MTA can employ to speed up the city’s slowest-in-the-nation buses: queue jumps.

Queue jumps give buses a green light before other vehicles at an intersection, often via a dedicated “queue jump lane” that allows buses to skip to the front of the line. Using footage from Seattle, Streetfilms’ Clarence Eckerson put together this short to demonstrate the concept.

There are already a few queue jumps in NYC — on the M86 Select Bus Service route, for example — but there should be a lot more of them. In its recent Mobility Report, DOT showed that it can now pinpoint specific street segments where buses get slowed down. These are locations where targeted improvements like queue jumps can make a big difference.

If DOT and the MTA think big about how to turn around NYC bus service, they’ll identify intersections all over town where buses should get a queue jump.

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This short bus lane segment on East 97th Street lets M96 bus bypass the bottleneck preceding the traffic light.

Queue Jumps for Buses — The Ethical Way to Cut in Line

By David Meyer | Apr 25, 2017

Cutting in line is pretty much unacceptable behavior, but there's one exception to the rule: A bus carrying dozens people should go to the front of the line at traffic lights. That, as TransitCenter explains in a new video, is a "queue jump" - and NYC needs more of them.

There are three queue jumps on the M86 route, including this one at Fifth Avenue and 84th Street. Photo: DOT

The M86 Moves Faster and More People Are Riding Thanks to Queue Jumps

By David Meyer | May 2, 2017

While bus ridership is down citywide -- and especially in Manhattan -- there are some routes that are bucking the trend. One that's gaining riders is the M86, which got a package of upgrades from DOT and the MTA in 2015. The improvements included off-board fare collection and queue jumps -- short bus lane segments that enable buses to cut ahead of other traffic at signals.

All-Door Boarding Works. Why Won’t the MTA Commit to It on Every Bus?

By David Meyer | Oct 7, 2016

Buses on the M86 are moving faster and people have noticed — ridership on the crosstown route is on the upswing again after declining for years. The improved performance is due mainly to two changes the MTA and DOT launched last year: off-board fare collection with all-door boarding, and “queue jumps” at two locations that let buses move […]

Targeted bus lanes can speed up service in congested areas. Photo: NYC DOT

The Top 10 Bus Corridors Where DOT Should Make Streets Work For Transit

By David Meyer | Feb 9, 2017

New York City bus service is the slowest in the nation and riders are abandoning the bus in droves, even as the city's population steadily increases. To win people back over to the bus, the advocates at the Bus Turnaround Coalition have pinpointed 10 routes where DOT can make service faster and more reliable.

Eyes on the Street: Red Paint for “Queue-Jump” Bus Lanes on the M86

By Stephen Miller | Jul 2, 2015

Select Bus Service on 86th Street in Manhattan won’t be getting full bus-only lanes, but riders will benefit from short bus lanes at busy intersections. DOT has added two “queue-jump” lanes where 86th Street and 84th Street meet Fifth Avenue, to keep buses from getting stuck behind traffic waiting at lights. The most important component of the M86 SBS upgrade is off-board fare collection. The sidewalk fare […]

While MTA Waffles on Proven Solutions, New Yorkers Continue to Abandon the Bus

By Ben Fried | Feb 22, 2017

MTA ridership numbers for 2016 are in, and it's clear that New Yorkers continue to abandon slow, unreliable bus service. If the MTA and NYC DOT don't act urgently to improve bus speeds and reliability, warn transit advocates, they risk "a downward spiral of increasing congestion, slower travel speeds, and a slower New York."