The Avenue of the Americas may soon become a Boulevard of Buses.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Department of Transportation (DOT) announced on Wednesday evening a proposal to install a new bus lane on Manhattan’s 6th Avenue, also known as the Avenue of the Americas, creating a continuous bus lane along the stretch between Watts and 58th Streets.
The agency revealed the project in a presentation to Manhattan Community Board 4 on June 17 and will show the plan to other affected community boards in the near future.
In some sections of the project area, the DOT will install double bus lanes, offset plus curbside, to allow for block-long bus stops, the agency said.
The effort is aimed at quickening speeds for the 51,000 daily MTA bus riders who take the four local and 27 express routes that travel on the 63-block portion of Sixth Avenue. Currently, local buses that travel along the corridor move as slow as 3.5 miles per hour, while express buses travel just slightly faster, at 4.2 mph during evening peak times.
“The Mamdani administration has made clear that bus riders deserve a fast, dignified commute, but right now it can be as fast to walk along Sixth Avenue as it is to ride a local bus,” DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn said in a statement.
“This proposal would bring faster and safer commutes for bus and bike riders commuting in Manhattan from all five boroughs,” he added.
6th Avenue busway aims to speed up commutes for riders
The advantage of offset bus lanes, according to DOT, is that they take buses out of conflict with drivers who often park their cars in curbside bus lanes. However, blocks with partial-length bus stops would maintain their current curb regulations.
It is the latest of several bus lane projects that Mamdani’s administration has either initiated since taking office on Jan. 1. Many of those, he restarted after they were put on ice by his predecessor, former Mayor Eric Adams.
Mamdani has committed to aggressively expanding bus lane infrastructure as he works to fulfill his campaign promise to make buses move faster. He pledged earlier this spring to increase bus speeds by 20% accross 45 priority corridors.
On the flip side, the other part of that pledge, to make buses free, has stalled as Mamdani has so far been unable to get Gov. Kathy Hochul and a critical mass of state lawmakers on board with it.
Among the projects Mamdani recently announced is an offset bus lane along Brooklyn’s Bay Parkway, a busway on Fordham Road, and double bus lanes on Manhattan’s Madison Avenue.
The undertaking will also involve painting new offset bus lanes along the entire 63-block corridor, including converting an existing curbside bus lane between 35th and 56th Streets to an offset. It will also extend a double-width bike lane from 31st to 59th Streets, building on one that DOT recently completed up to 31st Street.
Double-wide bike lanes are intended to allow for faster riders, such as those on e-bikes and motorized scooters, as well as side-by-side cycling.
The project is also designed to address dangerous road conditions on Sixth Avenue, which DOT has designated as a priority corridor for the city’s Vision Zero program to reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries.
Bus and bike lane additions make roads safer by better organizing traffic, according to DOT. It will also add other features such as pedestrian islands and curb extensions to shorten the crossing distances and turn-calming measures to slow down vehicles as they turn.