Mamdani Budget Bodes Beaucoup Bucks For Bikes And Buses
Hey, Mike Flynn, baby he’s got your money don’t you worry.
Mayor Mamdani has earmarked more than $200 million in new funding in his executive budget for bus lanes, bike lanes and public realm projects over the next four years, continuing to make good on a campaign that centered better and safer ways for New Yorkers to get around the city.
The Department of Transportation is going to get annual cash infusions from the mayor’s budget which are specifically earmarked for aspects of the Streets Master Plan. Starting in the fiscal year that begins on July 1, the mayor will allocate $16.8 million for DOT’s Bus Action Plan and $11.2 million for cycling and micromobility projects. Those line items increase each year, topping out at $35 million and $22.8 million respectively by fiscal year 2030. Additionally, each year the budget baselines $6.4 million for public realm improvements.
Those line items build on the $5-million baseline per year that the mayor included in his preliminary budget proposal, which means the total investment in street redesign starts at $39.5 million in FY27 and rises to $69.2 million by FY30. With this funding, DOT will be able to make 115 new hires on bus lane and bike lane projects in FY27, and eventually hit 158 new hires by FY30.
The baselines for bus lane and bike lane funding aren’t the only ways in which Mamdani is beefing up the transportation agency. DOT had to engage in the same cost-cutting measures that every other agency had to, which included eliminating 49 vacant positions. But the agency’s full-time headcount is slated to rise from 2,862 positions in the fiscal year that ends on June 30, the last year that includes any budget decisions made by former Mayor Eric Adams, to 3,041 positions in FY27 and then 3,123 positions by FY30.
The mayor has talked about creating streets that are “the envy of the world” since the first moments he entered office — and the agency tasked with doing the work is relishing the funding and headcount increase provided by the proposed budget.
“Mayor Mamdani challenged us to make our streetscape the envy of the world, and this budget invests in DOT’s ability to provide streets that are safer and better for everyone — whether they’re walking to school, biking to work, riding the bus, or driving across town,” DOT spokesman Vin Barone said in a statement. “This historic investment gives DOT the largest budget in its history, including the biggest-ever funding pool for bus and bike projects. That means more staff, and additional capacity to deliver for all New Yorkers for years to come.”
Giving DOT adequate funding to achieve the ambitious requirements of the Streets Master Plan — 50 miles of protected bike lanes and 30 miles of bus lanes every year — has been an issue since the Council created it in 2019. Jaded New Yorkers who lived through Adams’s announcement at the start of his term that he was allocating almost $1 billion to implement the plan may remember that somehow led to a plethora of headlines about DOT later lacking the headcount to get bus and bike lanes done, along with the constant decisions the mayor made to intervene on behalf of opponents of those projects.
Additionally, $60 million in one year for bus lanes and bike lanes may not sound like much in the context of a $1.6-billion expense budget. But by adding funds to DOT’s expense budget, Mamdani is showing that he’s investing in areas that actually determine whether projects get done, with the money he’s giving the agency able to be used for things like hiring staff, buying equipment and signing contracts with outside vendors to do projects.
“This is what you’d do if you were serious about scaling up,” said Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Ben Furnas, who previously ran Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Office of Climate and Sustainability. “Money plus courage is a recipe for transformation.”
Just five-plus months into his term, Mamdani has allowed DOT to do the work it’s promised to do on major roads like Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, Madison Avenue in Manhattan and Fordham Road in the Bronx, and the agency appears to be holding firm on its plans for a protected bike lane on W. 72nd Street even in the face of a bikelash.
The mayor still needs to negotiate a final budget with the City Council. During a January hearing on the status of the Streets Master Plan, Transportation Committee Chair Shaun Abreu tangled with Commissioner Mike Flynn over whether he thought the mayor was going to sufficiently fund his agency to allow him to hit the benchmarks required by plan. As the budget dance continues its grim fandango, Abreu took some credit.
“At our Preliminary Budget hearing, we emphasized the need for dedicated line-item funding for critical infrastructure projects, so … we are encouraged to see this response following the Council’s persistent advocacy and oversight,” the Majority Leader said in a statement.
“At our upcoming Executive Budget hearing, we will take a closer look at the details to determine how these funds are being distributed,” he added. “As we said during our dedicated Streets Plan hearing earlier this year, we will continue to do our due diligence to ensure the agency has the resources needed to fully implement the law passed by the Council and to catch up after years of delay under the previous administration.”
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