Press Releases
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 2025
Contact: (212) 839-4850, press@dot.nyc.gov
NYC DOT Begins Construction on Hillside Avenue Bus Lanes, Speeding Service for Over 215,000 Daily Riders
Buses on Hillside Avenue Move More Passengers Than PATH, NJ Transit Rail, or BART
Project Represents First Major Upgrade to the Existing Curbside Lanes, First Installed in 1969, in More Than 50 Years
Rendering of the proposed design NYC DOT has begun installing today along Hillside Avenue, delivering faster buses and shorter waits for nearly 200,000 daily bus riders. Credit: NYC DOT.
NEW YORK – New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez today announced the agency started construction of new bus lanes on Hillside Avenue in Queens, designed to deliver faster bus service and shorter waits for over 215,000 daily riders on 22 bus routes along the corridor. More people utilize the buses on Hillside Avenue than the entire populations of Yonkers or Rochester. The project is one of the agency’s longest bus priority projects in history, bringing nearly eight miles of offset bus lanes from 144th Street to Springfield Boulevard, where buses currently travel as slow as 4 miles per hour.
“Hillside Avenue is one of the most important commuting corridors of Queens, but currently features an inconsistent, patchwork design with some stretches of the street offering frequently blocked curbside bus lanes and other sections without any bus lanes at all,” said NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “Our new design will bring consistent, camera-enforced bus lanes across the corridor while also freeing up curb space to support local shops and their deliveries. We look forward to delivering this project and improving Hillside Avenue for everyone.”
The Hillside Avenue bus priority project will improve service for 194,000 daily bus riders along 17 MTA bus routes—in addition to another 21,000 daily riders along five Nassau County bus routes—and improve connections to four nearby subway lines, the Long Island Rail Road, and the JFK AirTrain. Buses on Hillside Avenue move more passengers than PATH, NJ Transit Rail, or BART. On its own, the buses on Hillside Avenue would be the 18th largest transit system by ridership in the US.
Hillside Avenue intersects several neighborhoods of eastern Queens, including Briarwood, Jamaica, Hollis, and Queens Village. The new bus lanes will benefit the vast majority of nearby residents who commute to work by transit as well as the vast majority of the people currently traveling on Hillside Avenue. About 60 percent of nearby residents take transit to work and 83 percent of Hillside Avenue users are bus riders—even though buses are allocated less than a third of the roadway space.
Currently, certain sections of Hillside Avenue feature curbside bus lanes in operation during rush hours. These inconsistent curbside bus lanes were among the first ever installed in the city, in 1969, and the 2025 project represents their first major upgrade in more than 50 years.
NYC DOT’s proposed design will feature a parking lane on each side of the street, as well as one travel lane for vehicle traffic, one lane for left turning vehicles, and one lane for bus traffic in each direction. The new offset bus lanes would be in effect 24 hours, seven days a week and enforced via the MTA’s ACE system of bus-mounted camera enforcement.
The eastbound bus lane will run from 144th Street to Springfield Boulevard. The westbound bus lane will run from 143rd Street to Springfield Boulevard.
The design will speed up bus service while also adding more than 600 parking and loading spaces to support local businesses receiving deliveries.
The proposal is the result of nearly 300 pedestrian surveys conducted in multiple languages, visits to more than 400 businesses and more than a dozen meetings with community boards, local elected officials, and other stakeholders.