City Buses to Speed Up With Mamdani’s New $800 Milllion Plan

The NYC Mayor and NY Governor announced a huge new $800 million five year plan centered on revolutionizing city buses and improving bus corridors.

“Next Stop: Fast Buses, Better Service,” unveiled by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul July 8, will begin by focusing on 50 priority bus corridors, including 12 in Manhattan.

The project is a joint partnership between NYC Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), with committed capital funding to improve speed times by up to six minutes per ride along these corridors.

The city will add more dedicated bus lanes and increase surveillance and fines on motorists who stray into the bus lanes.

“For working New Yorkers, every minute matters. But for too long, our buses have been stuck in traffic instead of keeping pace with the city that never sleeps,” Mamdani said. “When a commute stretches longer than it should, that’s less time with your kids, less time with your loved ones and less time enjoying the greatest city on earth. Together with Governor Hochul, we’re investing in faster, more reliable buses because New Yorkers deserve a transit system that respects their time.”

“Every day, millions of New Yorkers rely on buses to get around this city, but for far too long, making their journeys faster and their lives easier has seemed out of reach. That all changes today,” Hochul said. “New York is in the midst of a transit renaissance, with historic investments being made to improve the lifeblood of our city.”

Additionally, the City will aim to improve on the overall bus experience. This part of the plan includes installing 300 new bus shelters by 2028, increasing accessible bus stops, adding seats at bus stops, installing new information displays at bus shelters, and planting 30 trees at bus stops.

“Too often, New York City’s bus riders have felt like an afterthought. The Mamdani administration is putting the city’s one million daily bus riders front and center through this historic partnership and investment,” Mike Flynn, commissioner of NYC DOT, said. “Bus service shouldn’t be treated as a second-rate option at the mercy of traffic congestion. It should be a world-class system for a world-class city: fast, comfortable, reliable and convenient enough that every New Yorkers sees the bus as a great way to get around.”

“Next Stop: Fast Buses, Better Service provides the blueprint for transforming our bus system, and we are deeply appreciative of Governor Hochul and the MTA for their strong partnership,” Flynn added.

Currently, New Yorkers take around 2.75 million trips by buses each day, making the NYC bus system the busiest in the nation. Mamdani and Hochul said the plan seeks to deliver on a promise to “make New York City more livable for working people.”

In Manhattan, the work is already underway in eight bus corridors, including projects on the busy 34th St busway and 6th Ave. bus lanes.

Janno Lieber, chair and CEO of the MTA, said the plan is long overdue to improve the city’s bus system and thanked the partners involved in the new plan.

“For years, we at MTA have wanted more bus lanes, more enforcement of cars and trucks blocking bus lanes. Faster buses. Congestion pricing. But it’s no secret we didn’t have support at the local level,” Lieber said. “That is not the case anymore. Our partners today—this Governor, this Mayor and this NYC DOT—all want to make sure that riding the bus is always faster than walking.”

Back in August 2025, Transportation Alternatives, in a publicity stunt, had pedestrians and politicians “race” a bus on the cross town 34th Street route, by walking from First Ave. to Eighth Ave. The pedestrians reached their destination in 15 minutes; the bus took 22 minutes. Thirty fourth Street is now slated to become a bus only through fare.

“Buses can only move as fast as traffic allows, so if you are a bus or a bus rider this is terrific news,” Lieber added.