They're saying it loud and clear: they want a busway here.
The leaders of Manhattan Community Boards 4, 5 and 6 sent a letter to Mayor Adams and the Department of Transportation on Monday asking the city to finally deliver on the decade-plus dream of a busway for "the entire length" of 34th Street.
"Given the critical need to enhance public transportation infrastructure in this highly congested area of Manhattan, this project would significantly improve the efficiency and livability of 34th Street for both commuters and pedestrians," the the chair and the transportation committee chair of each of the three boards wrote in the letter.
The missive comes a little over a month after the city began initial outreach on potential bus service improvements for 34th Street. The DOT has not promised one type of project or another, at least in the early outreach, but 34th Street already has a combination of curbside and offset bus lanes. And buses still run as slow as 3 or 4 miles an hour on stretches of the midtown thoroughfare.
In addition to a 24/7 busway, the letter also asked for widened sidewalks, bus stop bulb-outs and dedicated loading and pickup/drop off zones to bring some order and safey to the street.
The community board leaders look 20 blocks south with envy as their fellow Manhattanites on 14th Street already enjoy faster and more reliable bus service thanks to the busway treatment that the city installed in 2019 — with little disruption to traffic congestion in the area.
"The success of the 14th Street busway serves as a compelling precedent. After implementation, bus speeds on 14th Street increased by at least 24 percent, and bus ridership grew by 30 percent," they wrote.
"Crucially, a study found that the project did not result in significant congestion on nearby streets, demonstrating that dedicated busways can be both effective and non-disruptive to surrounding traffic."
The idea of bringing one to a street served by every conceivable form of public transportation in the region makes a ton of sense in a world where the DOT has installed multiple busways across the city.
The administration of former Mayor Michael Bloomberg previously made an effort to install a bus-only treatment on 34th, but bowed to opposition and scrapped the plan, but New York City's streetscape is a much different place in 2025. Thanks to congestion pricing, traffic in Manhattan dropped by 9 percent in February compared to the historical average. The reduction in car traffic gives the DOT an opportunity to reallocate street space for buses and pedestrians.
It's also possible fewer cars are using the nearby Lincoln Tunnel than in previous years thanks for congestion pricing, which makes it an especially good time to redesign 34th Street.
While the Port Authority will not publish data for individual crossings until later this month, the MTA's own open data portal shows that 31,118 cars entered Manhattan from the Lincoln Tunnel in February 2025. In February 2024, an average of 41,984 cars per day entered the tunnel from the east; in February 2019, the number was 39,994 cars per day, according to the Port Authority.
With all of that in mind, the letter writers wrote, "the 34th Street busway and pedestrian improvement project is a necessary and forward-thinking step towards improving public transportation, reducing congestion, enhancing pedestrian safety, and supporting economic vitality in one of New York City's busiest corridors."
If DOT choses — and completes — a busway for 34th Street, it'll be out of character for the Adams administration, which has done little to advance the cause of bus riders.
In fact, Mayor Adams has overseen the installation of only one busway in his more than three years in office, with a second one set for installation on Tremont Avenue in the Bronx sometime this year. The mayor also trimmed the hours of three other busways installed by his predecessor Bill de Blasio.
Overall, Adams has shown little interest in making big changes for bus riders. His DOT painted just 5 miles of new bus lanes per year in 2023 and 2024 — defying a 30-mile-per-year benchmark set by the City Council. As a candidate, Adams pledged to install 150 miles of new bus lanes — he's not even made 20.
Political interference played a role in that shortfall, as on Fordham Road where Adams kowtowed to powerful Bronx businesses and institutions. At the same time, Hizzoner has failed to staff key areas inside the DOT that are responsible for developing and implementing bus projects, according to a recent report from the city's Independent Budget Office.
A DOT spokesperson said a proposal about what to do on the street is coming soon.
"NYC DOT began the conversation for improved bus priority on 34th Street earlier this year and we look forward to returning to the community boards with a project proposal soon," said agency spokesperson Will Livingston.
