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Webster Avenue SBS Could Be Best in NYC, With Center-Running Bus Lanes
Webster Avenue could be the place where Select Bus Service reaches the next level. At a community meeting Wednesday evening, the Department of Transportation and the MTA presented three visions of improved bus service for the corridor [PDF]. Two of the templates can already be found on the streets of New York -- bus lanes running curbside and bus lanes offset from the curb by one lane -- and bus riders are seeing travel times improve 15 to 20 percent thanks to those improvements. But the potential for a real breakthrough lies in the third template -- buses running in the center lanes with elevated platforms -- which would be a major step toward true bus rapid transit.
May 18, 2012
MTA Chooses Busway For Possible Staten Island North Shore Transit Line
The MTA announced yesterday that if it builds a new rapid transit line along Staten Island's North Shore, it will opt for bus rapid transit over light rail, an MTA spokesperson told Streetsblog. The obstacle now, as always, is money.
May 11, 2012
Off-Board Fare Payment Means MTA Can Run 24 More 34th St. Buses a Day
Changes to bus service on 34th Street have improved travel times and bus frequencies and have increased ridership, according to MTA data presented to the transportation committee of Manhattan Community Board 6 last night. Even speedier and more reliable crosstown rides are expected after the next stages of the street redesign are phased in over the next two years.
May 8, 2012
After Delay, More Improvements Coming For East Side Select Bus Service
Since 2010, rapid bus service has been running on Manhattan's First and Second Avenues. By nearly all accounts, it's been a success. Bus speeds are up 15 percent. Faster trips mean that the M15 has defied the trend of sinking ridership on Manhattan buses, adding 4,000 more passengers per day.
April 26, 2012
Gustavo Rivera, Bronx Straphangers Call for Much More Select Bus Service
Fordham-area residents know Select Bus Service better than anyone. The city's first rapid bus line opened along Fordham Road in 2008, and by all accounts it's been a success. Bus speeds are up 20 percent, and that's lured 30 percent more riders. In fact, Bronx residents like Select Bus Service so much, they're asking for more of it.
April 13, 2012
BRT Imposes Order on Mexico City Streets, Speeding and Greening Commutes
This is the second in a series of reports about sustainable transportation policies in Mexico City. Last week, Streetsblog participated in a tour of the city led by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. A previous installment covered pedestrian improvements in the city and a third will discuss its bicycle planning.
March 21, 2012
Can Staten Island’s North Shore Become NYC’s Next Great Neighborhood?
Staten Island's North Shore is one of the city's great sites of opportunity. The neighborhoods along the Kill Van Kull are twice as dense as the rest of Staten Island, but lack any transit option beyond the bus. There are historic town centers at St. George and Port Richmond, but car-centric planning deadens street life. The waterfront, much of which still hosts a vibrant maritime industry, is only accessible to the public at three locations in six miles.
March 9, 2012
In Speech, Vacca Promises Support for Select Bus Service, Pedestrian Safety
In a speech this morning at NYU's Rudin Center for Transportation, City Council Transportation Committee Chair James Vacca laid out his agenda for the coming year. His remarks focused on efforts to support Select Bus Service outside the Manhattan core and to improve pedestrian safety. Also on Vacca's list were curbing placard abuse and enforcing existing regulations on commercial cyclists.
February 21, 2012
Across Brooklyn, More Commuters Rely on Transit to Get to Work
Brooklyn commuters -- already some of the biggest transit riders in the country -- are opting for transit at ever higher rates. New numbers from the Center for the Study of Brooklyn at Brooklyn College, first highlighted by City Limits' Brooklyn Bureau, crunch Census data to reveal the evolving commuting patterns in the borough's 18 community board districts. (To see the citywide breakdown of these numbers by state legislative district, check out Streetsblog's prior coverage.)
January 30, 2012
Will Rahm Emanuel Show America What BRT Can Do?
With impressive urgency, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has spent his first months in office retooling and reconfiguring how the “City That Works” works. Emanuel’s energy is evident in changes from beat-cop deployment to the push for a longer school day, but perhaps the mayor’s most tangible efforts can be seen in his ambitious transportation agenda.
December 19, 2011