‘Much Better Buses:’ Riders Alliance Analysis Finds Service Improvements Could Save Riders Over 15 Minutes Per Trip

By Riders Alliance Photos: YouTube Screenshots\Riders Alliance\Facebook New York, NY–The grassroots Riders Alliance today released a landmark new report, “Much Better Buses: It’s About Time,” detailing the costs to riders, families, businesses, communities and the city at large of slow, unreliable bus service. Urging transformational change, the report provides a window into a future of rapid, subway-like service along major city streets. For example, trip times could drop up to 10 minutes on the Bronx’s Fordham Road and 17 minutes on Brooklyn’s Utica Avenue. “Bus riders have lost more than enough time; it’s long past time City leaders stop wasting ours,” said Riders Alliance Policy & Communications Director Danny Pearlstein. “Bus rapid transit is a responsible public policy, successful in hundreds of cities, that would dramatically improve lives in neighborhoods in all five boroughs. Per trip time savings of 10 and 17 minutes, as our experts found in studies of Fordham Road and Utica Avenue, are achievable on major corridors citywide and well worth City Hall’s time and energy.” Immediate opportunities for our next Mayor to take action: Flatbush Avenue Fordham Road Fifth Avenue 34th Street Tremont Avenue Other major transit corridors where these improvements could be prioritized: Utica Avenue, Brooklyn Linden Blvd/Conduit Ave, Brooklyn and Queens Main Street, Queens Merrick Boulevard, Queens 125th Street, Manhattan 1st and 2nd Avenues, Manhattan Bus riders are the backbone of New York’s economy, often commuting from neighborhoods without subway service to deliver vital services in healthcare, education, hospitality and other essential sectors that all New Yorkers depend on. City leaders have consistently failed to prioritize bus riders, treating their commutes as negotiable. For home health aides, teachers, restaurant workers, and caregivers, those wasted minutes mean lost wages, missed appointments, and missed time with family. Studies confirm that slow bus service is more than frustrating. For example, a 2024 participatory action research survey of 1,800 Flatbush Avenue bus riders conducted by the Pratt Center and Riders Alliance found that 91% of bus riders have been negatively affected by bus delays. Of those surveyed, two out of three bus riders have endured long waits for bus service in extreme weather. Half of bus riders have paid for a car service or taxi because the bus didn’t come in time. One in three bus riders has been fired, reprimanded, or lost pay at work.  Bus rapid transit, pioneered in Latin America and Southeast Asian cities, has delivered major time savings from Cleveland and Indianapolis to Albany and Buffalo and shows great promise for the millions of New Yorkers who live or commute in neighborhoods far from the subway. Corridor priority, intersection priority, level boarding and other features could deliver major time savings within the next mayor’s administration if made a City priority starting in the new year.  To Support our independent investigative journalism contributions are welcome via Cashapp to: $BlackStarNews Also support Black Star News by buying merch from our brand new Black Star Store!