Double Decker: Mamdani Advances Bronx’s First Busway and Brooklyn Bus Rapid Transit Push

Faster Buses Are Coming to Nearly 200,000 New Yorkers a Day. Here’s How.

New York City buses have long been the punchline of transit complaints, crawling along at speeds slower than a bike ride. Mayor Zohran Mamdani wants to change that story for nearly 200,000 daily riders in the Bronx and Brooklyn. On July 15, Mamdani and New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Mike Flynn announced the Bronx’s very first busway on Tremont Avenue and launched a community engagement process to bring Bus Rapid Transit to three of Brooklyn’s busiest corridors.

“New Yorkers should not lose hours of their lives sitting in traffic on a bus,” Mamdani said. “From the Bronx to Brooklyn, we’re building streets that move people instead of sticking them in gridlock.”

The Bronx Finally Gets a Busway

Tremont Avenue has been one of the Bronx’s most dangerous and slowest corridors for years, with buses on the Bx36 route crawling as slowly as 5 mph. The street serves a transit-dependent community where 72% of households don’t own a car. Between 2020 and 2024, nearly 630 people were injured in crashes along the corridor, including 46 severe injuries and four traffic deaths.

Later this year, the city will install a dedicated busway including:

• An eastbound busway from Third Avenue to Southern Boulevard

• A westbound busway from Southern Boulevard to Belmont Avenue

• A shared bus-and-bike lane eastbound from Webster Avenue to Third Avenue

NYC DOT will also redesign eight intersections along the route with painted sidewalk extensions and flexible delineators to slow turning vehicles and shorten pedestrian crossings.

Busways across the city have already shown results, increasing bus speeds by up to 60% while cutting injuries by as much as 45%, according to the mayor’s office.

“Bronx bus riders have waited long enough for reliable, fast bus service,” said Assemblymember Yudelka Tapia. “The Tremont Avenue busway means shorter commutes and safer streets for the 39,000 people who depend on this corridor every single day.”

Brooklyn’s Turn: A Summer of Community Input

While the Bronx gets construction, Central Brooklyn gets a conversation. Flatbush Avenue, Utica Avenue and Church Avenue together carry 150,000 riders daily across 13 bus routes, some moving no faster than 5 mph. NYC DOT and the MTA are launching a community engagement campaign running July 15 through October 31, including an online feedback portal, rider surveys and in-person events starting August 6.

On Flatbush Avenue, where a center-running bus lane is already under construction between Livingston Street and Grand Army Plaza, the city plans to deliver a full Bus Rapid Transit corridor by 2030.

Brooklyn Council Member Crystal Hudson welcomed the process. “For too long, Central Brooklyn bus riders have dealt with slow and unreliable service,” she said. “I am excited to see this community engagement process begin and encourage residents to continue making their voices heard so these projects reflect the needs of the neighborhoods they serve.”

A Bigger Statewide Push

This announcement builds on a plan Mamdani unveiled with Governor Kathy Hochul just a week earlier to speed up 175 bus routes citywide by up to six minutes. “Today, we are moving full speed ahead, decisively advancing projects that will help hundreds of thousands of riders move faster and laying the groundwork for even more service improvements across the five boroughs to come,” Hochul said.

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber framed it as proof of coordination between agencies: “This is what happens when the State, City and MTA are on the same page about speeding up service. Tremont and Central Brooklyn are just the beginning.”

For readers in Utica and the Mohawk Valley, the story is a reminder that state and city transit dollars are deeply intertwined, decisions in Albany and City Hall about MTA funding and bus infrastructure ripple across New York’s transportation network statewide, even if the busways themselves are downstate.

What Happens Next

NYC DOT expects to release updated Central Brooklyn bus-priority plans this fall after the engagement period closes. Riders in both boroughs can find more details at nyc.gov/tremontbusway and nyc.gov/fastbuses-centralbk.

Advocacy groups are already pushing for the city to keep the momentum going. “Tremont bus riders from Roberto Clemente to Throggs Neck deserve world-class service,” said Ben Furnas, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. “We’re excited to see this busway treatment advance, and we look forward to seeing DOT’s evaluations of its effectiveness.”

New Yorkers who ride these routes now have a real chance to shape what comes next. Central Brooklyn residents can weigh in through the online portal or attend an August rider event, and Bronx riders can track construction updates as the Tremont busway takes shape later this year. For a system that’s long left riders waiting, this is a moment worth watching.