Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: Good evening, everyone and welcome back to Talk with the People. Thank you so much for joining us once again. I'm so excited to be here with all of you. And we are here coming to you live about 28 or 29 hours since we launched the bus action plan.
Now, what is the bus action plan? You may be wondering. Well, I'm here to explain exactly that to you. As you may know, we live in the greatest city in the world. We also live in the most populous city in the United States of America. A sad fact, however, is that we ride the slowest buses in the United States of America. Millions of New Yorkers ride the bus, and yet these buses can crawl as slow as five miles an hour. The longer you spend in New York City, the more likely it is that you have at some point walked faster than a bus. Now, for those of you who've been following — not just our administration, but even the time before then — you'll know that buses are near and dear to my heart. They're immensely important because they're how so many working people get around and get across the city.
Now today, we're coming to you to tell you a little bit about this bus action plan because what we announced is that we are going to be saving New Yorkers up to six minutes each ride on more than 170 bus routes across New York City. Six minutes each ride; so that means if you ride the bus one way and you take that same bus back, you can be saving up to 12 minutes each way. Now, this is covering 70 percent of all routes in New York City, and it's just the start of making our buses fast and making our buses the world-class part of the public transit system that this city deserves. So, along with these more than 170 routes overall, we're also introducing Bus Rapid Transit to New York City. That means they're gonna be five separate routes that are gonna have the best kind of rapid transit that we have seen in many different parts of the world, now here in New York City. They're going to be covering Northern Boulevard, Queens, Tremont in the Bronx, Flatbush and Utica Avenue in Brooklyn and the route to JFK from Kensington in Brooklyn.
So, Chat, please do comment if these are routes that you use today or these are routes that you've ever used before. Because, one of the things that makes us so excited about picking these routes for Bus Rapid Transit is that these are some of the most well-used routes in New York City, and the ones where we can also deliver significant improvements just through these kinds of investments. And so that's exactly what Bus Rapid Transit's about — that's what the bus action plan is about. And it's gonna be coupled with investments: more than $250 million in operating investments; more than $600 million in capital investments from our administration. And those are going to unlock things like ensuring that we have all-door boarding, which is something that we're gonna deliver by the end of next year, and the MTA has said that that's gonna be done by the of 2027. All-door boarding — for those of you who don't know — your ability to get on the bus without having to just go through the front. So, for all of those New Yorkers who have grown up like I have, having to yell “back door” to have it be opened up, now you'll actually be able to board the bus on any door. And that'll be delivered by the end of next year.
In addition to that, we're going to have something called queue jumping, which we already have a little bit of in New York City, but it's going to be expanded. And queue jumping — for those who don't know — it's the ability for the bus to get a head start. Some of you may have seen, there are traffic lights, as we all know. And then there's also sometimes an additional light that will have a little gray line that's vertical — that is a queue jump that allows a bus to get a head start, so that it can actually get working people where they want to get going faster.
Now, I thought it best to bring an actual expert here to not only talk with us about the bus action plan, but also race a little bit because we're talking about speeding up our buses. So, please join me in welcoming Diniece Mendes, who is one of the brains behind our bus action plan. Hello!
Diniece Mendes, Assistant Commissioner for Transit Development, Department of Transportation: Mr. Mayor, how are you?
Mayor Mamdani: How are you doing?
Mendes: I'm well. I'm well — a little nervous. We'll see what our skills look like.
Mayor Mamdani: Chat, can we give some words of encouragement, please, for Diniece? Diniece should not be nervous, because Diniece is one of the brains behind what's going to be transformative for so many working-class people in trying to get where they're going. So, Diniece, can you explain a little bit of how we're going to make buses up to six minutes faster?
Mendes: Yeah, no, gladly. So, the bus is often sort of either stuck in traffic, stuck at lights or stuck at a bus stop, taking longer to get on and off the bus. And so, the way that we think about our solutions for the six minutes is how do we speed up all of those components. Right, so, red bus lanes painted on the street — you can see them on Madison, we just finished that project — a lot of that. And also, physically separated lanes, right? So, we're talking about concrete medians to separate the bus so that they can actually have that unfettered access to get you from where you're going.
Mayor Mamdani: So, if I can just jump in.
Mendes: Yeah, please.
Mayor Mamdani: Because you're telling us that you're doing a lot of different things at the same time.
Mendes: Absolutely.
Mayor Mamdani: So, I'm going to try and take a lesson from that and say, why don't I also try and do a number of different things at the same time? And we set up this Mario Kart game. Why don't you tell us a little bit more about the buses?
Mendes: Awesome.
Mayor Mamdani: Okay, so we're going to start it off — you, I know, have put dibs on this controller.
Mendes: I have; this is hopefully going to be good to me.
Mayor Mamdani: Okay, well, I hope it is not, because I'm looking forward to beating you, that's my hope, and I have this controller, which I have just seen for the first time in my life, shout out to—
Mendes: That is not true.
Mayor Mamdani: I just saw it.
Mendes: Alright, alright, okay.
Mayor Mamdani: I just saw it.
Mendes: We're not going to argue about that.
Mayor Mamdani: I put my hands on this before we started the stream just to get a little comfortable with it. But I have never seen a Switch controller. You know, I would prefer that controller a bit.
Mendes: That's okay, I got here first—
[Mayor Mamdani and Mendes play Mario Kart]
Mayor Mamdani: Okay, now, Department of Transportation Representative Diniece Mendez, can you tell us a little bit about what's a surprising fact about buses?
Mendes: Actually, so, the buses in New York City, prior to the buses, there were trolleys and streetcars in the city. So, really New York City has been always, always been about transit.
Mayor Mamdani: When did the switchover happen?
Mendes: That's a long time ago.
Mayor Mamdani: Yeah?
Mendes: I can't remember.
Mayor Mamdani: You know what?
Mendes: Do you remember?
Mayor Mamdani: I have no idea when the switchover happened. But you know, there is an interesting book I've been meaning to read about the streetcar. I think Nicole Gelinas wrote a book about the rise and fall of the streetcar in New York City.
Mendes: Oh, cool. Yeah, so back to the six minutes.
Mayor Mamdani: Yes.
Mendes: So, we talked about bus lanes. We're going to be doing a lot more of those. We talked about the routes that we're going to be during projects on. Wait, what are you doing?
Mayor Mamdani: I'm sorry, I went back by mistake.
Mendes: You trying to sabotage me?
Mayor Mamdani: I went back by mistake.
Mendes: Alright.
Mayor Mamdani: Apologies, as you can tell, [I] did not put in enough work trainings for this.
Mendes: It's okay, it's okay. It's cool. I gotta make sure I'm maximizing my—
Mayor Mamdani: Here we go. Chat, please let me know if I'm making a mistake here, because I have, I got no clue.
Mendes: Don't say that. I don't believe that at all, for one second.
Mayor Mamdani: Look, I will talk a lot of trash once we start, but standard bike? Where's the F1?
Mendes: There are a couple ones that I don't see here.
Mayor Mamdani: Let's go standard cart. Okay, here we go. Okay, so we used to have streetcars. Now we have buses. How exactly — you said we're going to speed up every aspect of the places that buses get stuck.
Mendes: Yeah. So, we talked about the first aspect, which is really when the bus is stuck in traffic, so giving the bus its own dedicated space, make sure that the bus can move quicker and faster. Of course, we need to protect that space. So, with enforcement, if you’re double parked in the bus lane, you kind of got to—
Mayor Mamdani: Don't double park my friends. Don't do it in the bus line.
Mendes: Yeah, because a lot of people be mad in the bus.
[Plays Mario Kart.]
Mendes: So, we talked about — now I'm getting distracted. We talked about the bus lanes. We talked the signal priority, which you talked about. The queue jump. We also have—
Mayor Mamdani: I'm about to queue jump right now.
Mendes: Listen!
Mayor Mamdani: Come on, come on! Alright, no please, I want you to focus on the bus action plan. I'm gonna stay focused right here.
Mendes: Yeah, I got you, I got you. It’s on, it’s really—
Mayor Mamdani: So, okay, the six minute action plan, we're covering 70 percent of all routes across New York City. I'm currently in — okay I'm not in first.
[Plays Mario Kart.]
Mayor Mamdani: I did pass you, that means I get to ask you the question. Can you talk about the bus action plan in the context of Mario Kart terms?
Mendes: Yeah, I mean, you have a lot of AIDS here, and you have things that actually stop you, just like that red shell. So, that actually happens on the bus journey quite a lot. So, either a car is double parked, it's blocking the bus, the bus has to maneuver in and around that. It slows down the bus. Like you actually may not — wow, I'm actually, I'm really rusty, but it's okay.
Mayor Mamdani: How are you going to say you're really rusty and you're in first? Oh, I'm in first. Apologies. I did not realize I was crushing it.
[Plays Mario Kart.]
Mayor Mamdani: Chat, let us know, what is the slowest bus ride you recall going on in your life? Because I can tell you right now, I used to live in Morningside Heights. I would take the 1 train to 231st and Broadway to go to Bronx Science. And I knew that if I could still see the bus two stops away, I could run fast enough to catch that bus. And that's not good for the City of New York.
Mendes: No, and it's not—
Mayor Mamdani: Oh, my goodness.
Mendes: Yeah, I actually had a very long commute, actually, in college. I traveled from Canarsie all the way up to Harlem to City College, shout out to CUNY.
Mayor Mamdani: 137?
Mendes: Yeah.
Mayor Mamdani: Let's go. I used to play soccer there.
Mendes: Oh wow, very cool. I did not play any sports, I did engineering for five years, so that was a lot of my life.
Mayor Mamdani: We're thankful, we're thankful because now you're helping put together a bus action plan.
Mendes: Absolutely. So, anyway, so the other part of it also is the service and being able to have more frequent service. That's really important. A lot of people get annoyed when a bus passes them either full or like it doesn't stop or they aren't able to get on and that's extremely frustrating. So, being able have more service, more reliable service is also part of the equation.
Mayor Mamdani: And I think, you know, every time you lose a little faith, it makes you less likely to get on the bus.
Mendes: Yeah, like seriously, like what faith do you have in a system like if it, if it's—
Mayor Mamdani: If it’s not showing up. And I think—
Mendes: Exactly.
Mayor Mamdani: I used to live in Astoria, and my parents — No! What?!
Mendes: Did you let me win?
Mayor Mamdani: No, I didn't know that it was already done.
Mendes: It's okay, it's alright, you can get me at the other time. So, the other part of it too—
Mayor Mamdani: This is absurd!
Mendes: It's okay, it’s okay, it’s alright.
Mayor Mamdani: Hold on, I gotta, we gotta review this. We gotta bring in a ref.
Mendes: This is not like Egypt.
Mayor Mamdani: We gotta bringing a ref here, this is absurd.
Mendes: There's no rigging.
Mayor Mamdani: I was lulled into a sense of an extra lap.
Mendes: Anyway, so.
Mayor Mamdani: I just beat villager—
Mendes: Can we talk to the people?
Mayor Mamdani: Yes, we can talk to the people.
[Crosstalk.]
Livestream question: We've got to pray that people don't go and park in the bus lane.
Mayor Mamdani: Yes, we do. But actually, should always keep praying for that. And now we're also going to do more than just pray. We are going to have additional enforcement.
Mendes: That is true.
Mayor Mamdani: Let's talk about it.
Mendes: Yeah, so the MTA and DOT actually work on this [inaudible]. I'm sure you know a thing or two about that. So, we've been working to expand that program. We have cameras that are on the bus, and that actually helps to capture folks that are double parked in the bus lane or in a bus stop. So, you should not be blocking either of those.
Mayor Mamdani: Don’t do it. Please don't do it.
Mendes: We also have cameras that also help to capture folks that are driving in the bus line. It's really for the bus. Please don't try to take a—
Mayor Mamdani: And even if your name is “Bus,” because there may be one or two New Yorkers who feel like this might be in honor of them, it's in reference to a vehicle that is carrying multiple people.
Mendes: Absolutely.
Mayor Mamdani: To where they need to go. Leave it for that vehicle, please.
Mendes: And then we also have our partners at PD that helps to capture the folks that might try to be slick and use the ghost plates.
Mayor Mamdani: Don't use the ghost plates.
Mendes: Please, we don't need that. COVID is done, like just leave that in the past. So anyway, like, enforcement is going to be key to keep the bus lanes clear. While we're doing a lot of hard work at DOT to actually designate that space on the street. And the other piece of it is sometimes, if you have a lot of stops that are spaced very closely together, that also slows on the bus, right? So, sometimes the MTA as part of their analysis, they try to space the bus stops a little bit more to make it a little more efficient. So, we do a lot of that, which is called stop balancing, if you're interested in our nerdy term. The other way that we also think about improving sort of the time that the bus spent is also all-door boarding, which you talked about at the beginning, which is gonna be super important for actually speeding up how many people get on and [get off] the bus.
Mayor Mamdani: And I think just to go back to that, I mean, so many of us who grew up in the city have memories of standing, you know, behind an uncle or an auntie or whomever else, as we're all waiting to board the bus. And back in those days, you're maybe you're looking for exact change or you're looking for your metro card. Now, it's an OMNY swipe. But still, it creates a line.
Mendes: It does. And I remember when I first got on the bus, it was $1.50.
Mayor Mamdani: Back in my day.
Mendes: A long time ago. Do you remember the $4 fund pass? And then it was $7. Anyway, it doesn't matter.
Mayor Mamdani: Over my head.
Mendes: But in any case, those were different times. Obviously, we're in this space now where technology is available, right? And so, how do we think about bringing New Yorkers that best quality and that high-quality service.
Livestream question: Is it easy to travel with public transportation as a tourist who never visited New York?
Mayor Mamdani: My friend, now is the time to come visit us. We would love to have you, no matter where you're from, because it's the World’s City. And it is easy. We are proud to have — I think, do we have the largest 24-7 public transit system in the world?
Mendes: We do.
Mayor Mamdani: So, wherever you may be from, our city's got a bigger public transit 24-7 system than anywhere else. And we're so proud to have it because it means that you can get around, whether you're taking the train, whether you’re taking the bus. And I know that New Yorkers, we sometimes have a reputation of being in a hurry, but if you ask, New Yorkers are oftentimes more generous than you think. So, we'd love to help you out and give you directions, but for that to happen, you gotta come visit us.
Mendes: It's a great time; there’s watch parties for World Cup.
Mayor Mamdani: Great watch parties for the World Cup.
Mendes: Shout out to our public realm team, DMT. Alright, what's the other question?
[Crosstalk.]
Livestream Question: He moved to the to the trains because express buses were such a joke.
Mayor Mamdani: I'm sorry for you. You know, when I lived in Morningside Heights, I was at one point working in Bay Ridge. And so, I would take an express bus from Times Square. I would the 1 to the 2 at 96th, then get off at Times Square, get on an express bus to get to Bay Ridge. You know, for me, they were a lifesaver often, but I'd love to know from you why they were joke, because we want to have every part of our public transit system to be top notch. So, do let us know.
Livestream Question: The only solution to car traffic is viable alternatives to driving and a slow bus is not viable.
Mendes: We agree.
Mayor Mamdani: Amen to a slow bus not being viable. That's why we want to make a slow bus, want to put it over there in that rear view mirror and we want to be looking at a fast bus. And I think that gets back to the point of — we don't want to try and convince New Yorkers that they should be getting on a bus that isn't meeting their needs. We want to give them a bus that convinces them themselves just in the results that it delivers.
Mendes: That they can depend on, right? It's not just people that are going to Midtown or whatever, right, like there are folks that are going to hospitals, working in hospitals, who are in the service industry, restaurant industry, that rely on the bus to get around.
Mayor Mamdani: And I think to your point earlier is that, you know, the bus system, it came after a few systems that we had here in New York City, a few different modes of transit. One of the beautiful things about the bus is that it's dynamic. It can change its direction, as it's not tied to as much physical infrastructure as, for example, our subway system is. And while our subway is in many ways built to go into the center of Manhattan, our bus system is one that also helps New Yorkers get across outer boroughs, not just always in from outer borrows to Manhattan. And we want to make sure that there is no hierarchy of how good your public transit is on the basis of where you live in our city. We want to deliver that world-class public transit. And one of the ways to do so is to ensure that our bus system is getting the kind of investment that it deserves.
Livestream question: Will rear door boarding be impacted by the new change?
Mayor Mamdani: When we're talking about all-door boarding, it means that every door will be able to be used for boarding. So right now, SBS, you can get on at any door, but local bus service, you can't. You can only get on at the front door. You should get on the front door. And now, what this does is it means that no matter what kind of bus you're using, if there's multiple entrances and exits, then it means that you can actually get on, swipe your OMNY, no matter where you're getting on.
Mendes: The other thing, too, about being able to focus on the bus is that we can deliver quicker and also at a lower cost and actually being able provide more relief to more New Yorkers across the city. But I do want to spend some time, at least, to talk about, I guess, my favorite part. The corridors are important. My hot take is that improving the rider experience is extremely important. We have over 14,000 bus stops across the city. And a lot of our work is actually to be thinking about, you know, say, my mother-in-law, who loves to be able to get a seat at a bus stop. This is for her. It's also for, you know, maybe myself when I'm traveling with my son, if I need to push my cart, you know? Like those are all the things that are also important in thinking about when you need to take a rest at the bus, at the bus stop.
Mayor Mamdani: And what kind of investments are we making on this action plan?
Mendes: We're going to be doing over 800 seating pieces at bus stops, so that could be a leaning bar or just your standard seating, and we'll be doing that for the next 10 years.
Mayor Mamdani: That's amazing.
Mende: Super investments. We're also doing these real-time arrival clocks.
Mayor Mamdani: Okay, shout-out to real-time arrival clocks. I still remember looking at my Bus Time app.
Mendes: Yeah, it's frustrating.
Mayor Mamdani: Being told that the next M60 was coming in 10 minutes, then it's 6 minutes, and then it's 4 minutes, and then it disappears!
Mendes: Yeah, ghost buses.
Mayor Mamdani: I’m like — and you know, for all of us, when we're saying don't use a ghost plate, we also got to make sure we never use a ghost bus. So that's, it's a two-way relationship here—
Mendes: It’s a two-way relationship.
Mayor Mamdani: —and we're trying to deliver our end.
Mendes: And we've also seen that if there's more predictability of like when your bus is going to arrive, you're more likely to use the system and use the bus. And we have seen, I think, upwards of at least 2 percent ridership increases where this [has] been.
Mayor Mamdani: People want a reason to believe.
Mendes: Absolutely.
Mayor Mamdani: You got to give it to him and I think yeah.
Livestream question: My bus for four years was the B44, my love. I got a new job, but I still see her around.
Mayor Mamdani: We will give her your best. Thank you for shouting out the B44. We love a shout-out, whether it's the BX10, the B44 [or] the M60. What's your bus of choice?
Mendes: The B46.
Mayor Mamdani: And why?
Mendes: Well, it's closest to me, but also it is the one that most frustrates me, and we're actually going to do something about it. One of our priority corridors.
Mayor Mamdani: B46 haters, you've been heard.
Mendes: Also shout out to my team, because a lot is riding on how they actually improve that service for me, so it's a little biased, but you know, they know what I got to work on.
Mayor Mamdani: Shout-out to the team as well.
Mendes: Also, like, the B46 — it's almost like one of the slowest buses. It's like 2.3 miles per hour.
Mayor Mamdani: No!
Mendes: It's slow.
Mayor Mamdani: Two-point-three miles per hour?
Mendes: I can walk up the hill. I choose not to, and I will wait for the—
Mayor Mamdani: Two-point-three miles per hour?
Mendes: Yeah, it is kind of slow.
Mayor Mamdani: Chat, please let us know if you can walk faster than 2.3 miles an hour.
Mendes: I'm pretty sure they can. So, it's frustrating, and that's actually the least reliable part of my trip and my journey. When you think about if you miss that bus, then you actually have to then wait a little bit longer. You might miss the train and that connection, and it compounds, right?
Mayor Mamdani: Yeah, we've heard about the importance of the train.
Livestream question: How long will construction take to create these rapid bus systems? Will construction interfere with current traffic and make it more crowded as it's being built? And how long it will take?
Mayor Mamdani: These five bus rapid transit corridors. The first one will be completed by the end of 2030 at the latest, and that first one is going to be in Flatbush. And the engagement towards the community, the outreach, the riders — that's actually beginning this year because we want to make sure that these are projects that New Yorkers can see moving every single day because they hold the potential to transform the experience of riding on those buses.
Mendes: Absolutely, and also choosing where you live is also important because you're also looking at: “What does the transportation system look like? How do I get to work? How do we get around?” And so, that's extremely important. And also, we're excited to already have gotten started on Flatbush.
Mayor Mamdani: Yeah, and I think, just to the question about [if] there [are] going to be impacts of traffic and things like that, there will be impacts to traffic during the course of the construction, but we're always looking to do the construction as quickly as possible while being safe about it to ensure that those disruptions are minimized.
Mendes: We like to say it's a little bit of a short-term sort of like pain for a long-term gain.
Livestream question: I know the subject is about buses, but are there any plans to pay attention to the Bronx? You're doing a great job, but the Bronx still needs some love.
Mayor Mamdani: There is no question about that. The Bronx always needs some, shout out to the BX. And you can in the bus action plan, we have a focus on Tremont. It is one of the rapid transit corridors that we're going to be delivering. But beyond just buses, we just put out — maybe about a few weeks ago, although what is time — a plan called “Block by Block.” It was our housing plan that we've put forward where we're gonna be building 200,000 new affordable homes over the next 10 years and preserving 200,000 existing affordable homes that are in a potential state of disrepair. And in that plan, we put forward a spotlight specifically on the Bronx, and that spotlight is for a few reasons.
One, we see the level of evictions in the Bronx in terms of how many Bronx sites it's affecting is at a disproportionate and unacceptable level. And two, we're seeing so many fires take place in the Bronx, and a lot of this also has to do with the level of disrepair in a lot the housing. And so, this fall we're going to have HPD work with [the] Mayor's Office and with tenants to sit down with other agencies, elected officials, and target the highest need areas of the Bronx. And that includes [the] South Bronx, that includes the Northwest Bronx, and what it also looks like is working with building owners to actually address concerns and improve safety before it becomes dangerous. So, thank you for that question.
Mendes: Can I add Fordham?
Mayor Mamdani: Yes, absolutely.
Mendes: We're also going to be doing Fordham, project in Fordham.
Mayor Mamdani: Shout-out to Fordham. How many people ride the bus—
Mendes: On Fordham?
Mayor Mamdani: It's one of the most-used bus routes.
Mendes: It is. I think it’s—
Mayor Mamdani: I think it's north of 100,000 on a daily basis.
Mendes: North of 100,000.
Mayor Mamdani: That’s incredible.
Mendes: That's somewhat of like Flatbush as well.
Livestream question: What's your favorite bus? So, you've heard yours.
Mende: Yeah, the B46. Yeah.
Mayor Mamdani: I'm going to say it's close between the BX10 for nostalgia, where I'd be running up the hill and I'd slapping the back of the bus asking the bus driver to please stop, and the M60. The M60 I have some love for, because it was the first Select Bus I ever rode, and when you get on a bus, and it can go fast—
Mendes: I'll give you another one.
Mayor Mamdani: It's a great experience.
Mendes: I'll give you another one. The other favorite bus for me would be the B41. When I first moved — I'm from Trinidad and Tobago, shout out to the Caribbean, shout to Trinidad. When I first moved here, I lived in Mill Basin and I would take the [B41] with actually my mom to go to Downtown Brooklyn, where we were like doing the health setup and like all of that. So, that would be like my first, that was my first introduction into the bus system and also a very long trip. I'm so happy to have a full circle moment that we will actually be working to improve buses on Flatbush for the B41.
Mayor Mamdani: It's a beautiful full-circle moment. I think it's also part of what makes it so important that so many people who are helping to make the bus action plan real have themselves been bus riders in our city and know the pain of being left behind.
Livestream question: Do you have a favorite form of public transportation in New York? Buses, subways, taxis, etc.
Mayor Mamdani: Man, it is hard. It is hard to pick between all incredibly and kind of historic symbols of our city.
Mendes: Absolutely.
Mayor Mamdani: I will say the bus holds a special place in my heart, I don't know if you guys have seen but there was recently a video, I think it was of Sarah Jessica Parker, getting on a bus, just appreciating she had all this space to herself, air conditioning was working, she was going to get to where she was going. That could be you! You could be SJP!
Mendes: And the bus covers so many parts of the city, right? So, that's extremely important.
Mayor Mamdani: I have a question for you. Yeah, sure. Do you remember the seminal MTV show, Pimp My Ride?
Mendes: Yeah. Where are we going with this?
Mayor Mamdani: Now pretend you have the opportunity, and that show, though, isn't about a personal vehicle, but it's about your bus. What would you do?
Mendes: Strollers on a bus, spaces for moms. When you think about access to who can use the bus, we have to make it accessible so that folks at all different stages in their life, whether they're a student or [a] parent with a kid that can use bus.
Mayor Mamdani: That is a beautiful idea. Mine is a little less thoughtful. It would be that there would be a wheel in the middle of the bus that would turn and mimic all the turns of the driver, so that kids could get that sense of what it would be like to be driving that bus.
Mendes: They can go to the Transit Museum, too.
Mayor Mamdani: So, you could pick the thoughtful answer or you could pick the absolutely insane answer that I just gave, and those are two possibilities. We have got another comment, [she’s] spitting facts.
Livestream question: Diniece is a rock star.
Mendes: Back at you.
Mayor Mamdani: I think that is a lovely way for us to close out Talk with the People. Thank you so much, Diniece.
Mendes: Thank you, mayor. Thank you for all that you're doing.
Mayor Mamdani: Please. It has been a real pleasure. Thank you to you for helping to put together our bus action plan. And thank you to everyone for streaming with us. It was incredibly exciting for me to lose in front of an audience but to still have an opportunity to talk about the fact that we're saving New Yorkers up to six minutes each way. Thank you all so much. Have a lovely evening.
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