Around 65,000 people ride buses on 116th Street each day, traveling at half the citywide average bus speed, according to the state comptroller\u2019s office<\/a> \u2014 in a district where 85 percent of people use transit to get to work and 83 percent of households don\u2019t own a car.<\/p>\n Speaking to Manhattan Community Board 11\u2019s transportation committee on June 11, DOT representatives noted that bus lanes on nearby Lexington Avenue improved bus speeds by 19 percent and cut traffic injuries by 24 percent.<\/p>\n The plan also adds metered parking and truck loading zones to increase curb access and get illegally double- and triple-parked cars out of the way of buses \u2014 the key obstruction to buses today, according to riders who spoke to Streetsblog on the corridor this week. <\/p>\n \u201cStreets are flooded, everybody\u2019s got a car,\u201d said Jose Lara, a bus riders headed home from his first day at a new job. Lara told Streetsblog he\u2019d opt for different route next time.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think I like this bus,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of slow.\u201d<\/p>\n Estella Walker, who rides the bus regularly to get to and from work, also complained about the brazen double parking \u2014 and the long waits that often result from it.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of traffic and a lot of cars parking everywhere,\u201d Walker said. \u201cThere are long waits, especially on Saturdays.\u201d<\/p>\n The MTA\u2019s M116 buses are already equipped with automated camera enforcement that ticket drivers for illegal double parking and blocking bus stops. Once the bus lanes go in, those cameras will also let MTA and city to ticket drivers for blocking the bus lanes.<\/p>\n The 10 bus routes that traverse or cross 116th Street connect to four subway stations.<\/p>\n DOT\u2019s redesign would cover the eastern leg of the corridor, and bring much-needed safety fixes to both 116th Street and Pleasant Avenue. Between 2020 and 2024, 317 suffered injuries in car crashes within the project\u2019s parameters, according to city figure compiled by NYPD and DOT. A moped driver struck and killed<\/a> pedestrian Anette Camaya at Pleasant Avenue and E. 118th Street back in 2020.<\/p>\n DOT\u2019s redesign repurposes a total of 61 parking spots to make room for proven safety tools like sidewalk and curb extensions, speed humps, pedestrian islands and hardened daylighting<\/a> to make pedestrians more visible to turning drivers. The agency also plans to restrict left turns from 116th Street onto Park Avenue under the elevated Metro-North tracks, where traffic crashes have injured<\/a> nine cyclists and six pedestrians since 2020.<\/p>\n On Pleasant Avenue, DOT wants to put a parking-protected bike lane in each direction along with painted pedestrian islands and curb extensions to shorted crossing distances and slow driver turns.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/116th-bus-lane-project.png\")
DOT\u2019s proposed redesign aims eliminates 19-foot \u201cshared parking in travel lanes\u201d to make room for dedicate bus lanes, and repurposes parking to improve pedestrian safety.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/pleasant-ave-bike-lane.png\")
Pleasant Avenue currently has just one block of unprotected bike lanes.<\/p>\n