(Bloomberg) -- The first stage of New York City's reopening will feature expanded and faster bus service with 20 miles of either restricted traffic or dedicated lanes on congested roads throughout the city, to increase capacity and reduce overall crowding.
“Less crowding equals more health and safety,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said, announcing the changes at a Monday news briefing.
Modeled on the 14th Street busway experiment, which bans most car traffic on the east-west thoroughfare in lower Manhattan, the city will create five additional busways between now and October. The 14th Street busway, which halved buses' crosstown travel time and increased ridership, will be made permanent, de Blasio said. Four more bus lanes will also be added.
The 3.5 miles of busways and 16.5 miles of dedicated bus lanes will serve about 750,000 riders in commercial areas of the city, many of which are not accessible by subway. The plan still falls short of New York Transit's request last week that the city add 60 miles of busways and bus lanes.
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