How Mamdani Can Deliver a Bigger Dream for Buses

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Mayor-elect Mamdani’s promise of “fast and free” buses only hints at what a modern bus experience should feel like. However, transportation experts have mostly framed his priorities in terms of difficult tradeoffs. Like other transit planners, I am skeptical that free fares are the best way to invest scarce transit dollars — but a bigger problem is that our idea of what the bus system could be is far too small.

Based on my work improving bus systems in ten cities across six countries—including New York, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, and Bogotá — and the thoughtful commentary of other transportation experts, I offer the following strategic roadmap for delivering a bigger dream for buses.

Get the governance right 

Collaboration among city agencies will determine whether the Mamdani administration succeeds at transforming the bus rider experience. Getting the governance right will set the stage for the requisite policy, infrastructure, and operational changes.

Improving buses isn’t the sole job of the MTA and DOT. Speeding them up also requires definitive action from the Department of Design and Construction, for infrastructure such as level boarding islands; NYPD, for improved enforcement of bus-only street space; and Sanitation, for keeping bus lanes clear of debris.

A more holistic approach to the bus rider experience would also include agencies responsible for the sidewalks and streetscape used by bus riders (Parks, EDC), administration of the Fair Fares program (Social Services, Human Resources), and teaching children to use and respect transit services (NYC Schools).

When I spearheaded a priority bus corridor in Bogotá, a city the size of New York, I worked with 18 different municipal agencies to improve the experience of the corridor’s 380,000 daily bus riders. 

Aligning the interests and actions of multiple government agencies is a significant challenge. For this reason, Mamdani should appoint a bus czar with real political authority: decision-making across mayoral agencies, negotiating power with the MTA, and direct access to the mayor. The mayor-elect must ensure that all agency leaders responsible for the bus experience are actually aligned around this new goal.

Aligned agencies must understand and actively anticipate that major bus improvements will draw an enormous uproar from car drivers, and develop mechanisms to address their protests. The new administration could form a special team to work with community groups to resolve local concerns, such as curb management, that arise when we reconfigure streets to prioritize people over cars. 

Quickly deliver on fast buses

For many riders, time is more valuable than their fare. Think about someone earning minimum wage who has an hour-long commute on the bus. Shaving 15 minutes off their commute — worth $4.25 of their time, at a wage of $17 per hour — would be worth $1.25 more than eliminating their $3 bus fare. Several actions to speed up buses are within the mayor’s control without needing support from the MTA. These can be delivered quickly and lay the groundwork for longer-term solutions. 

First, the mayoral team should accelerate existing projects under the MTA and DOT. Drawing from the lessons of DOT’s “Smart Curbs” program, the department can implement curb management strategies across all five boroughs on the highest demand bus corridors to pave the way for bus priority. Second, accelerating the full implementation of automated camera enforcement on buses can rapidly improve bus speeds by getting drivers and parked cars out of the way. 

Third, DOT can use a combination of physical and digital infrastructure to raise bus speeds. In anticipation of permanent offset busways protected by concrete, the department can install temporary physical barriers to create new bus lanes and protect existing ones. It can also expedite the rollout of Transit Signal Priority on all bus routes, using recent innovations to control traffic signals.

Develop sustainable solutions for fast and free buses

A significant risk to Mamdani’s bus plan is that it could be undone by subsequent administrations at the local or state level. Solutions with sticking power often take longer and require more resources to develop and execute, because they tackle important but not necessarily urgent problems that will require politically and financially sustainable long-term solutions.

It is imperative that Mamdani's administration create or identify a recurring stream of revenue to fund bus infrastructure and service. Radically raising bus speeds, providing higher frequencies, and making buses free or very close to it: All of these require stable revenue. It is very unlikely that Mamdani will achieve his bus objectives if he doesn't figure out how to fund them.

Funds that simply cover current operating costs are insufficient. New revenue sources must allow for the increased service frequency bus riders are likely to expect, as well as the induced demand from free and reduced fares. This may mean following the example of other U.S. cities, like Los Angeles and Chicago, that use revenue collected from parking to fund transportation and neighborhood improvements. By contrast, 97 percent of parking in New York City is completely free. Mamdani must find a stream of revenue that cannot be easily reversed by his successor or Albany.

The long-term solution for faster buses is permanent, dedicated infrastructure — the key to Bus Rapid Transit, which is widely known as BRT. Yet the alarming reticence of elected officials to confront car drivers has left U.S. cities woefully behind their global peers in implementing BRT.

BRT is the most obvious way of realizing Mamdani’s bus ambitions. It is simple to install, relatively inexpensive, and would dramatically increase bus speeds. In October, the New York Times highlighted how BRT would improve journeys on the B41, and international experts Annie Weinstock and Walter Hook have already provided data-backed recommendations for BRT locations throughout the city. But again, turning these recommendations into reality would require new forms of collaboration between DOT, DDC, and other NYC agencies that shape NYC streets to ensure time- and cost-efficient infrastructure design and construction. 

Mamdani's team will also need to develop a productive relationship with the MTA. In the short term, adopting technology that integrates Transit Signal Priority with real-time information about bus locations would enable DOT to better support bus operations. As bus speeds rise, better management of existing service, especially bus dispatching, will be critical.

Over the longer term, credible plans to build dedicated bus infrastructure will require certain modifications to MTA-procured vehicles. For example, some existing BRT systems use buses with doors on both sides of the chassis to speed up boarding times — and therefore overall bus speeds.

Elevate buses to democratize the street and dignify riders

The success of bus systems in peer cities around the world has created a new narrative about buses. But New York City continues to treat them like the unwanted step-children of the subway. This arrangement subordinates the interests of 1.87 million daily bus riders to a much smaller number of drivers.

This is an opportunity to steer the political narrative around buses in the right direction, by focusing on democratizing scarce street space for the greatest number of people instead of merely the wealthiest. Permanently designating street typologies to center buses in the NYC Streets Plan — which is due for an update in Mamdani’s term — would cement this priority. Behavioral campaigns that encourage New Yorkers to love their buses and treat bus operators with respect can transform the perception of buses and how their riders fit into our city. 

To truly upgrade the bus experience in New York, we have to dream even bigger than "fast and free." Becoming a city that dignifies the everyday experience of bus riders demands a concentrated, unified effort across the entire Mamdani administration and tough tradeoffs between powerful interests. If the mayor-elect has already proven anything, it is the ability to galvanize an unlikely coalition. His administration should put that to use and let New York City show the world what the future of buses can be.

These opinions and statements belong to the author and do not reflect the opinions of New York State or the MTA. This article was supported by the Moynihan Center at City College New York.