DOT Proposes Transforming 34th St. Into Mostly Car-Free Busway, Much Like 14th St.

The DOT wants to turn 34th Street into a busway, much like the existing one at 14th Street, citing three local community boards that have asked for such a project. The street serves 28,000 daily riders on the M34/A and 22 other express bus routes, not to mention tour buses—but these routes typically crawl along at an abysmal average speed of 3 mph. City officials estimate that a dedicated busway would boost these speeds by up to 15 percent.

Notably, if the plan goes into effect, the DOT says that New Yorkers driving cars would have to disembark from the road at “specific intersections” to avoid a traffic ticket. The 14th Street busway, which began in 2019, prohibits long-term parking and requires drivers to make the “next available right turn” if they’re briefly stopping locally on the road.

“The vast majority of commuters in Midtown are traveling by transit and they deserve world-class, fast, and reliable buses,” DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said in a statement. “After seeing tremendous success on 14th Street, where buses have sped up, traffic has virtually disappeared, and far fewer New Yorkers are getting hurt in crashes—we are excited to propose a similar design on 34th Street. We look forward to refining the design with the community.”

The DOT says that the proposed busway is part of its “Connecting to the Core” program, of which the 14th Street busway is a part. There are a total of eight busways in NYC, seven of which have been completed since 2017. According to the agency, the 34th Street busway will include painted intersections that will result in “increased visibility.”

Perhaps most interestingly, the DOT’s proposal comes with public support for such a bus lane by the three community boards—4, 5, and 6—that would encompass it. Indeed, the agency had already briefed all three boards on a draft proposal by March 18, when the boards sent a letter signaling their approval of what they’d seen.

”The three community boards, which together cover the entire length of 34th Street, are writing to express our support for a 34th Street busway combined with pedestrian safety improvements,” representatives of the three boards wrote. “Given the critical need to enhance public transportation infrastructure in this highly congested area of Manhattan, this project would significantly improve the efficiency and livability of 34th Street for both commuters and pedestrians.”

They went on to write that “the success of the 14th Street busway serves as a compelling precedent. After implementation, bus speeds on 14th Street increased by at least 24 percent, and bus ridership grew by 30 percent. Crucially, a study found that the project did not result in significant congestion on nearby streets, demonstrating that dedicated busways can be both effective and non-disruptive to surrounding traffic.”

Upon unveiling the new proposal to the broader public this week, the DOT pointedly said that it “follows support from all three local community boards,” a clear reference to correspondence such as the March 18 letter. Nonetheless, the agency said that more community board appearances on the proposal “are to come,” following an updated presentation to CB5 on May 19.