Decision 2025: Mayoral Question 2 Seeks Answers on Slow Buses

Streetsblog has begun rolling out the top candidates' answers to our eight-question campaign questionnaire. All of the questions and answers will be posted here, and each day's question will feature the full answers in two forms: the text is not only below but plotted on a matrix graded by a panel of livable streets movement experts. Remember, candidates make many promises, so rather than grade the answers on dreams, we also added in a "reality" category so readers can judge if the candidate actually has a plan for achieving his or her promises. Don't worry, there won't be a test later: we'll recap all the answers on an uber-matrix later in the month.

Question 2:

Scott Stringer, former Manhattan Borough President and City Comptroller

New York City is the greatest city on Earth, yet we have the slowest bus system in the country and the current administration has done nothing to fix it. As Comptroller, I audited the management of the express bus services and found it only had an on-time rate of 60 percent. I called upon the MTA to implement better performance metrics and a transit equity program making it easier to access the different transit options available throughout the city. Part of my transit equity proposal was to connect bus service with commuter rail, decreasing the gaps between infrastructure, making it easier to use both, and decreasing potential wait time.

Since then, Mayor Adams has proposed the lowest bus lane mileage installation since 2018 which would result in less than 25 percent of the goals laid out in the Streets Master Plan, again delaying the transit upgrade New Yorkers desperately need. This city is long overdue for a bus network redesign. City Hall needs a transit-oriented leader to commit to dedicated bus lanes and busways, more frequent enforcement of bus lanes, more bus shelters, better-designed curbs, more transit signal priority, all-door boarding, and more frequent off-peak services to be comparable with the rest of the country and serve New Yorkers’ basic needs. Moreover, I am committed to ensuring 24/7 operation and service every six minutes and the integration of a Fair Fares system to enable more New Yorkers to use the city’s transit.

Zellnor Myrie, state Senator from Brooklyn

New York City’s bus system is the slowest in the country, a problem that has not improved under the Adams administration. New Yorkers deserve city leadership that will take real action to speed up commutes and make buses a more efficient, reliable option. Expanding and protecting bus lanes must be a top priority to keep buses moving efficiently.

As mayor, I will fulfill and exceed the city’s commitment to building 30 miles of new bus lanes each year and ensure they are truly protected from car traffic. That means having physically separated lanes to prevent illegal parking. I will also expand automated bus lane enforcement cameras across the city and promote penalties for vehicles that block bus lanes. Protecting our bus lanes are one of the most effective ways to improve bus speeds.

Beyond bus lanes, we must also improve traffic signal coordination so buses spend less time waiting at red lights. I will ensure that traffic lights turn green for buses, so riders get where they’re going faster and more efficiently. My administration will cut through bureaucratic red tape and aggressively expand Transit Signal Priority across the city’s bus routes. Improving bus stops and boarding procedures is another key way to speed up trips.

As mayor, I will streamline and expand bus priority measures like all-door boarding and off-board fare collection to reduce time wasted at stops. These solutions are long overdue, and I will work closely with the MTA to accelerate their implementation. Lastly, my administration will make implementation of projects, such as the Streets Plan, a top priority.

The Department of Transportation under my leadership will have the resources, and political backing needed to accelerate projects. I will appoint a Transportation Commissioner who is fully committed to meeting these benchmarks, and I will require regular public progress reports to hold the city accountable for its commitments. If implementation falls behind, my administration will immediately escalate oversight and redirect resources to ensure projects stay on schedule. My administration will take a results-driven, enforcement-backed approach to deliver faster, more efficient bus service and make public transit the best option for getting around New York. By improving bus speeds and reducing commute time, my administration will improve the daily lives of millions of New Yorkers.

Jessica Ramos, state Senator from Queens

As of 2024, DOT has only built 23 of the mandated 150 miles of bus lanes required by the NYC Streets Plan. That is an embarrassment, and yet another failure for taxpayers to point to when they cite their lack of faith in government. It’s important to remember that a late bus for an hourly worker. Too many neighborhoods have been abandoned to car dependency because we’ve accepted transit deserts as a fact of life, and slow buses impact working class and immigrant communities.

The Ramos DOT will catch up and surpass the number of dedicated, enforced bus lanes required by the NYC Streets Plan, while also speeding up service with transit signal priority and all-door boarding to make bus service fast, reliable, and actually competitive with driving.

Brad Lander, City Comptroller and a former Council member from Brooklyn

For a near-term win, I will push the MTA hard for immediate implementation of “all-door boarding,” now that OMNY readers have been installed on every bus. This has been shown to reduce boarding times on some Select Bus Service routes by as much as 40 percent, and could be done immediately on every route. (Fare evasion can be addressed with MTA fare inspectors, as is the case on SBS routes.) I will implement all 20 SBS routes and service features originally proposed in 2009, and create new interborough connections by extending SBS routes across bridges and between boroughs.

I’ll also implement the Fordham Road busway plan and re-up the bus lanes required by the Streets Master Plan, including projects that have been delayed or derailed by the Adams administration. To speed up buses and maximize the benefits of reduced traffic volumes, I’ll introduce 14th Street-style busways on major crosstown corridors within the congestion relief zone. Buses must be prioritized in the right of way, full stop.

I would make several improvements to the efficacy of the tools we already have in place, including the standardization of bus lane operating hours, tightening up the legal reasons private vehicles can enter a bus lane, and building out our city’s loading zones to prevent delivery vehicles from blocking curbside bus lanes. Additionally, I will explore innovative ways to improve service quality, particularly on high-ridership lines, and expand bus shelters in the outer boroughs, including the Bronx.

Zohran Mamdani, state Assembly member from Queens

Expand, expand, and expand our bus lanes some more. I will improve bus speeds by rapidly rolling out high-quality dedicated bus infrastructure across the city. Currently DOT doesn’t have anywhere near the capacity to plan and implement a significant amount of bus projects, and those that are implemented lack crucial elements to increase bus speeds.

I would focus on an administrative and approach-based overhaul at DOT that greatly increases capacity to expand the bus network. To run a world-class DOT, we need to attract the best talent: I will end the unnecessary hiring freezes at DOT, make salaries more competitive and offer better conditions like remote work. I would move much more capacity for implementation in-house rather than relying on contractors, who often increase costs and slow timelines.

I would also take a much more network-based approach to hitting bus lanes targets and creating a high quality bus system. Planning one or two miles of bus lanes at a time makes it impossible to hit targets and improve speeds. I would instead focus first on crucial arteries that need bus infrastructure and examine ways to create connections across the entire city through the bus network. In addition to my commitment to making buses fast and free, I also plan to bring true bus rapid transit to New York.

Bus rapid transit is high capacity and low cost transit infrastructure that will have widespread economic and quality of life benefits for working class New Yorkers. A car-free bus lane can move 8,000 people an hour; meanwhile a busway on a car-free street can move 25,000 people an hour in each direction. This is an essential service that New Yorkers need, especially those in transit deserts or those forced to rely on the poor service of our current bus system. We currently have the slowest in the nation – crawling at 8 mph on average; New Yorkers deserve high quality, safe and universally accessible transit and these bus investments will make this a reality.

Whitney Tilson

I will expand bus lanes, which increase travel speeds by up to 30 percent, targeting congested corridors like Flatbush Avenue, Northern Boulevard and Fordham Road. I will build 30 additional miles in my first year, consistent with the NYC Streets Plan.

Note: No answers were provided by Andrew Cuomo and Adrienne Adams despite repeated requests.