NYC Unveils Sweeping Plan to Speed Up Bus Service Across the Five Boroughs

By Y.M. Lowy

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul unveiled “Next Stop: Fast Buses, Better Service,” a plan to modernize New York City’s bus system through a partnership between the NYC Department of Transportation and the MTA.

As part of the initiative, Flatbush Avenue and Utica Avenue in Brooklyn have been selected among the first five corridors citywide to receive the next generation of rapid bus service. The improvements are designed to make buses up to 20 percent faster, shorten commutes by as much as six minutes each way, and improve reliability and accessibility.

The city is committing $254 million in operating funding and $628 million in capital funding over the next five years. In total, the plan identifies 50 priority bus corridors across the five boroughs for future upgrades.

The initiative also includes the purchase of approximately 2,500 new buses, expanded all-door boarding beginning in 2027, hundreds of new bus shelters, additional seating and real-time arrival displays, expanded accessibility improvements, and increased enforcement of bus lanes through additional cameras and targeted NYPD enforcement.

New York City’s bus system, which carries 2.75 million riders every day but remains the slowest of any major U.S. city, averaging just eight miles per hour needs this transformation.