This column originally appeared in On The Way, a weekly newsletter covering everything you need to know about NYC-area transportation.<\/p>\n
Sign up<\/a> to get the full version, which includes answers to reader questions, trivia, service changes and more, in your inbox every Thursday.<\/p>\n Mayor Zohran Mamdani and MTA Chair Janno Lieber stood arm to arm, grinning ear to ear during a news conference in downtown Brooklyn on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Over the last year, the two have publicly disagreed over Mamdani\u2019s campaign pledge to make buses free to ride<\/a>. But they share the goal of speeding up service, and came together to announce a new plan<\/a> to do just that along 50 corridors.<\/p>\n They declared it was a new day for collaboration between the city transportation department \u2014 which manages the streets and stoplights \u2014 and the state-run MTA, which operates public buses. Lieber noted that former Mayor Eric Adams largely resisted measures to improve New York City\u2019s sluggish bus service<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe support at the local level in the prior City Hall was, shall we say, uncertain,\u201d said Lieber. \u201cNot the case anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n He called out the \u201coverdue commitment\u201d mandated by the city\u2019s 2019 \u201cstreets master plan\u201d law, which required the DOT to install 30 new miles of bus lanes every year. Building the new lanes \u201care, by the way, a matter of law in the city of New York,\u201d Lieber said.<\/p>\n Gov. Kathy Hochul echoed the criticism.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, we\u2019ve wanted to do this before. This is not a brand new idea,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we\u2019ve never had the partnership and the leadership in City Hall that we have right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Lieber and MTA officials had for years publicly criticized Adams\u2019 lack of support for bus lane projects. They were upset when the administration scaled back plans<\/a> to give bus riders more priority on Fordham Road in the Bronx, a decision Mamdani has already said he\u2019d reverse<\/a>.<\/p>\n The transportation department under Adams regularly scaled back or nixed street designs. Adams\u2019 former senior adviser Ingrid Lewis-Martin has pleaded not guilty to taking bribes and favors in exchange for watering down an aggressive redesign of McGuinness Boulevard in Brooklyn that would have taken road space away from drivers. (Mamdani has also reversed<\/a> that decision).<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Adams did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n A presentation on the new initiative said it was the \u201cfirst joint DOT-MTA bus plan in nearly 10 years.\u201d The presentation notes the plan \u201cresets the relationship\u201d between the two agencies \u201cto center on a new set of shared goals.\u201d<\/p>\n The claims of collaboration are a major step for the two agencies. But whether things actually improve for bus riders remains to be seen. If both sides make good on their promise, big changes could be coming to New York City streets.<\/p>\n NYC transportation news this week<\/p>\n Congestion pricing may speed up ambulances in Manhattan. Congestion pricing has not only reduced gridlock in Manhattan \u2014 new research shows<\/a> it could also be saving lives, according to a paper published Monday by six academics for the National Bureau of Economic Research. However, the union representing the FDNY’s EMTs and paramedics questioned the study\u2019s findings. Michael Greco, president of Local 2507, said the report was a good starting point, but wanted to see more peer-reviewed research that better accounts for the variety of traffic patterns in Manhattan<\/a>.<\/p>\n Help wanted. The city\u2019s Department of Transportation is looking for a \u201ccreative\u201d engineer to run one of the country\u2019s most challenging infrastructure projects: fixing the decrepit triple cantilever section of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. It\u2019s not an easy job.<\/a><\/p>\n One of the Bronx’s oldest subway stations gets a makeover. A nearly finished $123 million project \u2014 which faced nearly three years of delays \u2014 added elevators and restored the 120-year-old headhouse at the 149th Street-Grand Concourse station<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fresh rules for New Jersey e-bikes. New regulations for e-bike riders in New Jersey go into effect on July 19, including requirements for riders to be at least 15 years old and for motorized bikes to be insured. Here\u2019s what else you should know<\/a>.<\/p>\n Curious Commuter<\/p>\n