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Q&A
DOT's prioritization of bus lane improvements and implementation challenges
2:25:57
ยท
6 min
Council Member Brooks-Powers questions DOT about prioritizing bus lane improvements and plans to meet required mandates. DOT officials discuss challenges, outreach efforts, and specific projects.
- DOT emphasizes need for council support in implementing bus lanes
- Discussion of definition of bus lanes under Streets Plan legislation
- DOT reports 47 outreach projects, with 9 related to bus lanes
- Specific projects mentioned: Tremont Avenue busway in The Bronx, Third Avenue project in Manhattan
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
2:25:57
Thank you.
2:25:58
When it comes to bus lanes, DOT has consistently failed to meet these requirements and has fallen behind the aggregate five year target.
2:26:07
How is the department prioritizing bus lane improvement and what plans are in place to meet the required mandates and I will color this by saying yes, we've had private conversations that have been very positive.
2:26:20
We are engaged now with DOT from my district and we've identified several council members that would like to get into conversation about bus lanes in their district.
2:26:29
So with that being said, I'd like to know how DOT is prioritizing the improvements and what plans are in place to meet the required mandates besides what the council is showing good faith on.
Ydanis Rodriguez
2:26:41
Yeah.
2:26:41
Our deputy commissioner Eric, he will take into the other project that we have for this coming year.
2:26:49
But I I can say that I want I need council to come on board and support me to do both laying in your district.
2:26:56
Like, I cannot do the number unless, let's say, if we continue having opposition from most council district when it came to bus lane.
2:27:05
Bus lane is so critical.
2:27:07
1,000,000 people are using our buses every day.
2:27:11
And they are our working class.
2:27:13
And we are responsible to provide them the best bus way of safe bus lane.
2:27:19
They are critical motor transportation.
2:27:21
I'm happy with our accomplishment.
2:27:23
As I say, being in different places, speaking with leaders across the nation and global.
2:27:28
No one is doing what we're doing.
2:27:30
We want to do more and definitely we are committed to do it.
2:27:33
But we can share, Eric can take you into what are the projects that we had this year.
Eric Beaton
2:27:37
Sure.
2:27:38
And just before I do that very quickly, one of the things here is that the way bus lanes are defined in the legislation is that we only get credit if the bus lane is either physically separated or camera enforced.
2:27:51
So there's a number of projects that we did where we have not been able to camera enforce working with the MTA or there are places where we took an existing bus lane and improved it.
2:28:01
We moved it from curbside to offset or did other ways to improve it.
2:28:06
Those we don't get to count in our streets plan number because it's not how the legislation was written.
2:28:11
But we still think are part of our job delivering real benefits for New York City's bus riders.
2:28:16
So as the commissioner said, we've been working closely with the MTA and we think we have an exciting roster of projects for this year.
2:28:22
Just a couple that I'll mention is the new busway on Tremont Avenue in The Bronx.
2:28:27
As we all know, it's incredibly hard to get East West on transit in The Bronx, this is really targeting one of the the slowest points of one of those East West routes.
2:28:35
And on Third Avenue in Manhattan, we had a really good bus, bike, and overall safety project on the Upper East Side.
2:28:43
We're both extending that farther North into Harlem and farther South into Midtown to make sure that buses, cyclists, pedestrians, and all traffic move quickly and safely on those streets.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
2:28:58
Thank you.
2:29:02
Thank you for that.
2:29:04
I will say though with the bus lane dynamic, it's not like the council can veto a bus plan.
2:29:10
So I think a lot of the emphasis is put on the council but it does not rest with us for DOT to implement.
2:29:17
But in the terms and terms and condition 40 which tracks the streets plan outreach effort, it reported that DOT did 47 outreach projects but only nine of those 47 were related to the bus lanes and the streets plan, excuse me.
2:29:37
Yeah.
2:29:38
Can you explain because I'm just trying to understand how and if DOT is prioritizing the bus lanes a lot.
2:29:44
Obviously by now I think DOT knows that the bus lanes are a priority for this committee.
2:29:51
And so I wanna understand why out of 47, only nine were focused on the bus lanes for the streets plan.
Ydanis Rodriguez
2:30:00
Yeah.
2:30:00
We we at and and this is a conversation I know that we've been having for years with this body and all.
2:30:07
We know that the public motor transportation that New Yorker uses most is our train and our buses.
2:30:16
And we know how expensive it is to build, expand any train.
2:30:20
But we know that it's more expanding or or upgrading our bus lane, building more bus way or offset bus lane is a way of how we can move our buses quickly.
2:30:34
So definitely our buses, as also the back lane.
2:30:38
We are committed to move only to provide only Yorker the possibility for them to move by train, by car, by bus, and by bicycle, and e scooter too.
2:30:49
So I, you know, we have many projects.
2:30:51
We have some constraint when it came to the weather.
2:30:55
You know, there's a particular period of time where we have to do that we only can go out and do the work, do the marking.
2:31:02
We also had to do the community engagement.
2:31:04
And as you say, one day I hold that the council can pass a bill.
2:31:08
Let's say DOT have all the flexibility for you to go and go and build the bus lane.
2:31:13
If that would be the case, I can tell you that we will be getting a much higher number.
2:31:17
But I feel that there is, you know, few of the details.
2:31:20
Don't know if everybody would like to.
Eric Beaton
2:31:22
No.
2:31:23
Just to you know, we we are very committed to outreach on the bus projects as well as others.
2:31:27
The number of meetings sometimes has to do with the specific geography of these routes, right?
2:31:32
When you have 2,600 intersections approved, that's a much wider geography, so it takes a different set of meetings.
2:31:39
But we are committed to very deep outreach.
2:31:41
Our bus projects don't just have one community board meeting.
2:31:44
They're typically not just many community board meetings, meeting with faith institutions, meeting with all kinds of stakeholders along the corridor.
2:31:51
I can tell you our bus team spends a tremendous amount of effort going out and doing that on the ground outreach.
Ydanis Rodriguez
2:31:59
Also