Mayor de Blasio Releases First 14th Street Busway Report

December 18, 2019

Since pilot began in October, bus speeds and ridership have dramatically surged

NEW YORK -- Mayor Bill de Blasio today released the first data analysis following the implementation of the Transit & Truck Priority (TTP) Pilot along Manhattan’s 14th Street in October 2019. The report shows that ridership and travel speeds along the M14 “busway” have increased dramatically, with minimal effect on area traffic.  Specifically, bus riders’ crosstown commutes along the M14 are now as much as nine minutes faster while trips in other vehicles along most adjacent streets are less than a minute slower. Bicycling around the 14th street corridor, where DOT built new protected bike lanes in 2018 along 12th and 13th Streets, has also surged in popularity including on Citi Bikes.

“It’s a new day on 14th street. We are getting New Yorkers moving and saving them time for the things that matter,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “The early results show that this pilot is speeding up buses while allowing for the car drop-offs and deliveries the neighborhood requires. Under our Better Buses plan, we are making changes citywide to fight congestion and to give people faster and more reliable transit.”

“These initial results are very encouraging and promising, showing the positive impacts when New Yorkers are given reliable, affordable, and faster transit,” said Deputy Mayor Laura Anglin. “We will continue to monitor the data from this pilot and are excited to see the enthusiasm New Yorkers have expressed for this busway.”

“I want to thank the Mayor, whose leadership helped make the 14th St. Transit and Truck Priority Street a success, as we can see from this first independent status report,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “We at DOT are proud that we could help provide thousands of New Yorkers with a triple-win: safer, more sustainable, andfaster transportation choices. And while we will continue to work with NYCT and NYPD to make traffic and operational adjustments in and around the pilot area as needed, we thank all the New Yorkers who have shared their enthusiasm for a new and improved 14th Street.” 

“We are serious about improving bus service and we need to take bold steps like this to do that,” said Andy Byford, President of MTA New York City Transit. "The 14th Street Busway is wildly popular with riders enjoying 30-40% faster trips, and that should be replicated throughout the city. The 14th Street experience proves that dedicated enforced bus priority makes buses the desired mode to get New Yorkers where they want to go — a major victory for our customers and the environment."

“After years of falling ridership, I'm thrilled that people are taking the M14 bus again in big numbers. I'm encouraged by the initial data and I look forward to working closely with DOT and all stakeholders during the course of this pilot program,” said Speaker Corey Johnson.

The TTP pilot limits crosstown traffic along 14th Street to buses and trucks, but does allow drop-offs from cars as long as drivers take the next available right turn.  The pilot took effect on October 3, following the start of M14A/D Select Bus Service on July 1, 2019. The analysis, conducted by Sam Schwartz Engineering and reviewed by DOT, compares data from May/October 2018 to October 2019, the first of several monitoring reports that will be prepared over the course of the pilot project.  The initial data, the first of regular quarterly reports, had the following major findings:

M14 A/D SBS bus speeds and ridership have significantly increased:

• Using MTA data, the analysis found travel times along the corridor improved at a rate of 22 to 47%, highlighted by a travel time savings of as much as 9.7 minutes end-to-end for riders in the eastbound direction.
• These speed gains exceed the goal of 25% improvement articulated in Mayor de Blasio’s Better Buses plan.
• At the same time, MTA reports that ridership on the M14 A/D has surged by 24%, with greater gains (30%) on weekends. These changes reverse a five-year trend of declining ridership on this route.

Car traffic on adjacent streets slowed in some cases, but by small amounts:

• DOT closely studied local side streets a particular emphasis of the study and the results showed that travel times on 12th through 19th Streets increased by 0-2 minutes during weekday peak hours, though 17th Street saw a 3.4 minute increase in travel time between 3rd and 9th Avenues. 
• At the same time, the volume of vehicles on 12th Street saw very little change and decreased on 13th Streets.
• Travel times on most nearby avenues have improved or have minor increases of less than 1 minute with the exception of 3rd Avenue (the east end of the busway), which saw a slightly longer travel time of 1.6 minutes.

Bike ridership, including on Citi Bike, has surged:

• With no increase in capacity in the community, Citi Bike reported a one-year 17% increase in usage on 14th Street and surrounding streets during the weekday AM peak, outpacing its growth elsewhere in New York City.
• Meanwhile, bike volumes along 12th and 13th Streets, where DOT installed protected bike lanes in late 2018, increased over one year by as much as 234%.

“Riders all over NYC deserve viable transit options. I am glad to see an improvement in service along 14th Street. DOT worked hard to ensure public transit was prioritized in our community and that riders have access to speedy crosstown bus service along 14th Street. I hope the MTA can work with DOT to continue making improvements south of 14th Street so that all riders in my district have reasonable access to the 14th Street busway,” said Assembly Member Harvey Epstein.

“The impact of the 14th Street Busway has been clearly visible to everyday riders, and it is encouraging to see that the data supports these observations. From boosting ridership to increasing speeds, if these preliminary results continue, we should implement a permanent busway along 14th Street. I thank the Mayor’s office and the Department of Transportation for their commitment to public transit and rethinking our streets,” said Council Member Keith Powers.

“These results prove what so many New Yorkers have been experiencing for months now along 14th Street – that buses are moving faster and people are coming in droves to experience a transformed thoroughfare. I want to thank DOT for their continued and dedicated work with our communities to address potential improvements to the streets surrounding 14th Street and look forward to seeing how we can make an already incredible TTP experience even better in 2020,” said Council Member Carlina Rivera.

The dedicated bus lanes along 14th Street are enforced by a combination of DOT’s mounted bus lane cameras and then NYCT’s cameras on-board M14 buses, which will issue warnings until January. Other elements of the pilot include additional pedestrian space in the Union Square area near University Place, painted curb extensions to shorten crossings and newly installed bus boarding platforms along the corridor.

Sources of information for the analysis included MTA, NYCT, INRIX, DOT, Citi Bike and others. For more details on the Transit & Truck Priority Project please go to https://www1.nyc.gov/html/brt/html/routes/14th-street.shtml

The DOT is also currently working to enhance bus service across the City as it implements the Administration’s Better Buses Action Plan. Read more here:
https://www1.nyc.gov/html/brt/html/busforward/bus-forward.shtml