The slowest bus in Manhattan may just lose its ignoble title thanks to congestion pricing began.
Bus drivers and passengers along the M50 — which has been the slowest bus in the borough since September 2023, and has been among the worst since at least 2015 — say they are already noticing improved speeds.
“I see a difference, definitely,” said Tony, who has spent 18 years as a bus operator for the MTA. “There have been no delays the entire week, and when I look to my left and right down the avenues I can see all the way down – I’ve never seen it like that.”
Gregory Sykes, who has 19 years driving a bus in Manhattan under his belt, said driving in the city has felt noticeably different since Sunday, when the MTA flipped on its toll cameras and created the nation's first congestion relief zone.
"Ever since congestion pricing, driving in the city has gotten better. I feel it," Sykes told Streetsblog while driving west on 49th Street during yesterday's evening rush hour. "I've been talking with co-workers, they also think it's light. I know some people don't like it, but if it's going to alleviate the traffic, it's good."
The M50 is so slow that it hit a dubious 4.1-mile-per-hour average speed in the rush hours in December 2023. A year later, it was only slightly better at 4.6 miles per hour.
Part of the reason, obviously, is the route itself: The westbound route begins at First Avenue and 49th Street and terminates at 12th Avenue and 46th Street before heading up to 50th Street for the eastbound route back to First Avenue.
It's a route basically designed to be a poster child for the success of congestion pricing. Obviously, it is too early to tell if there is quantifiably less traffic across the board or if buses are truly running faster. But riding the M50 on Thursday provided strong anecdotal evidence that congestion pricing is already improving the lives of bus riders.
At around 11 a.m. on Thursday, the M50 took just 27 minutes to get from the western departure point to the eastern terminus, an average speed of 5.1 miles per hour. The peak hour trip in the other direction took about the same time as normal, but partly because the is making detours because of the tree in Rockefeller Center. The trip took 32 minutes, or around 4.3 miles per hour, roughly the same as last January's peak hour speed.
Even so, people on the bus felt a difference, especially on straightaways when the bus didn't have to take detours.
One bus rider said he was was amazed at how fast it felt compared to last week.
"You can look now and see that it's much clearer," said Michael Pickering. "We are kinda gliding right through."
His friend, Jasmine Santiago, sitting to his left was skeptical at first.
"It's bullshit," she said of congestion pricing when first asked. But as she and Pickering looked out the window to observe the speed, her view began to change.
"I guess congestion pricing has some good," said Santiago. "On 57th Street last week, we would not have been going this fast."
And rider Hugh Craig was almost wistful that his M50 is apparently no longer the slowest bus in Manhattan.
“I am here during rush hour and there has been no issue whatsoever, no delays,” said Craig.
On the same bus, a tourist from Utah said he thought congestion pricing was a great idea, and that he didn't understand why people would want to drive into the most congested part of Manhattan anyway.
"I was walking today and I wondered, 'Who in their right mind would drive here?'" said Pete Smith, the Beehive Stater. "I grew up in LA, and we just don't get it there. Everyone has to have their own car, and sit in traffic, it's terrible. New York is great. I've been able to get around well."
Other riders told Streetsblog they felt the bus going faster this week, but they were still skeptical that congestion pricing was a good thing, saying they distrust government agencies and don’t believe the money will be used for transit improvements.
“People are still going to pay for the convenience to drive,” said Vince Ryan, who lives in the Bronx and takes the bus regularly around the city. “It’s a money grab.”
He claimed the extra money would line the pockets of MTA higher-ups, but in fact, the MTA has a clear plan and list of projects that will be funded with congestion pricing revenue, including repairs, accessibility upgrades, and bus depot electrification.
All three drivers agreed that the reduction in traffic was nice, but said the real problem they face on the job is double-parked cars and cars parked in bus lanes.
“The bus lane is for everyone ... except buses,” an off-duty driver told Streetsblog as the M50 passed a police car and many others parked in the painted bus lane.
“The main problem for buses is the double parking,” added Tony, another bus driver. “There’s trucks that use the bus lanes and bus routes as their own loading zones and I have to squeeze through. They know it’s a bus route and they don’t care. I tried to pick someone up in a wheelchair yesterday but there was a truck unloading pallets of food in the way. That’s the real issue.”
The MTA revamped a program that used bus-mounted cameras to keep bus lanes clear. Now, with the next generation of automated enforcement cameras, the images captured from buses can lead to moving violations for double parking, not just parking in the bus lane.
But the M50 is not equipped with this technology, and is not on the list of bus routes set to get it. For now, congestion pricing will have to do.
