Faster Buses Promised by New York Mayor de Blasio

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said his administration will increase bus speed by 25% by 2020. "Faced with the slowest bus service among the nation’s big cities in addition to sharply declining ridership in recent years, the administration will vow to expand bus priority on streets; ramp up police enforcement of bus lanes and push Albany for state-controlled measures, such as camera enforcement," Vincent Barone reports for AM New York.

Bus speeds and ridership have moved the wrong direction in recent years. "The state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority saw a drop of almost 60 million bus trips from 2010 to 2016 — down from 697 million annual trips to 638 million — as average speeds trended down, with the mayor bearing much of the blame for not doing enough to accommodate buses on city streets," Barone reports. Even with more than 100 miles of dedicated bus lanes, the city has had trouble speeding up its vehicles. "To help keep that network of lanes clear, the mayor will establish for the first time dedicated tow truck teams within the Police Department," Barone writes.