Press Releases
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 20, 2025
Contact: (212) 839-4850, press@dot.nyc.gov
NYC DOT Proposes Busway for 34th Street in Manhattan
Busway Would Make Commutes Faster and More Reliable for 28,000 Daily Commuters and Improve Safety on Corridor
Agency Also Proposes Extending Bus Lanes South on Madison Avenue To Speed Up Service
The current configuration of 34th Street in Manhattan. Credit: NYC DOT
NEW YORK – New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez today announced the agency has proposed a busway for the 34th Street corridor across Manhattan following the remarkably successful installation of a similar design on 14th Street. The midtown busway would speed up bus service, with shorter, more reliable waits for 28,000 daily bus riders on 34th Street on the M34/A Select Bus Service and 22 express bus routes as well as New York Waterway, tour, and other buses. After the busway was implemented on 14th Street, bus speeds increased up to 24 percent and crashes on the corridor dropped by 42 percent. The proposal follows support from all three local community boards for a busway on 34th Street.
"The vast majority of commuters in Midtown are traveling by transit and they deserve world-class, fast, and reliable buses," said NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. "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."
"Busways and bus lanes are proven to move buses faster and provide riders with more reliable commutes," said MTA NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow. "Converting 34th Street to a busway would improve speeds for 28,000 daily riders' by up to 15 percent."
NYC DOT on Monday evening presented the proposal for a 34th Street busway, as well as a proposal to extend the northbound double bus lane on Madison Avenue, from 42nd Street down to 23rd Street—two separate projects to speed up Manhattan buses--at Community Board 5. More community board presentations are to come.
A rendering of the proposed busway for 34th Street, at Park Avenue, in Manhattan. Credit: NYC DOT
34th Street Busway Proposal
Improved bus priority on 34th Street was a key proposal in the administration's Connecting to the Core plan to make it easier to travel around Manhattan's Central Business District without a vehicle. The 34th Street busway would utilize a similar design as 14th Street, where NYC DOT freed up space for buses and improved traffic safety without seeing any significant spillover traffic to neighboring streets.
The proposal would deliver a busway from Ninth Avenue to Third Avenue, and would prioritize buses and trucks while maintaining local access for pick-ups, drop-offs, and loading needs. Like 14th Street, local-access vehicles would be required to turn off the busway at specific intersections to avoid a traffic violation.
Installing a busway will free up curb space for deliveries and bring new pedestrian safety improvements, including painted curb extensions, and improved visibility at intersections across the corridor. Outside of the busway, NYC DOT would maintain the existing bus lanes along 34th Street, from 11th Avenue to the FDR Drive.
34th Street would be New York City's eighth busway and the seventh installed since 14th Street in 2019.
Madison Avenue Bus Priority Proposal
Madison Avenue is a critical corridor for transit, serving 92,000 daily bus riders on 34 bus routes—including the M1, M2, M3, M4, Q32 local buses, as well as 29 express bus routes from other boroughs. During morning and evening rush hours, the majority of people on the roadway are on a bus—yet they occupy just a quarter of the space thanks to the efficiency of bus service.
NYC DOT is proposing extending the existing double bus lanes of Madison Avenue, which currently run from 60th Street to 42nd Street, further south to 23rd Street near Madison Square Park. The corridor is also undergoing expansion of Automated Camera Enforcement mounted on M2 and M4 buses to ensure speedy and efficient bus service for the corridor.
Extending the bus lanes will quicken the commutes for New Yorkers traveling from across the city. When NYC DOT implemented similar lanes on Fifth Avenue, speeds on local routes increased between 6 percent to 12 percent, and on express routes by 11 percent to 20 percent.
NYC DOT plans to review feedback from the community on each project before moving forward with implementation.