Mamdani and DOT Restart 34th St. Busway Project Transformation

After significant delays, the 34th St. busway project is set to allow for faster bus service, banning cars from the busy corridor, which currently serves 28,000 daily bus rider.

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and NYC Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Mike Flynn announced the project will be taken up again June 2, six months after the project was originally expected to be completed. Last year, the project faced a series of delays, due to continuous pauses/un-pauses by the Adams administration, but officials had reported that they hoped the busway would be in operation by November or December. The project, which now aims to reach completion by the end of 2026, was paused temporarily by the Trump Administration last October, citing federal regulations and claiming the perpetually congestion clogged street across the center of the city is an important part of the National Highway System.

Melissa Braid, a spokeswoman for the Federal Highway Administration, told the New York Times, “We received NYCDOT’s letter today and are currently reviewing it.”

While that is not exactly a full fledged endorsement from the feds as of yet, the NYC DOT said it aims to begin public outreach in June, install street furniture late Summer, and complete construction by the end of the Fall—hopefully bringing a two-year saga to a satisfying close after being first proposed in May 2025.

The busway, if completed and implemented, will operate daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and allow through traffic for buses, trucks, and emergency vehicles, while restricting through access for cars who will be required to exit the busway at the next available intersection.

Once completed, the busway will join eight other busways in NYC, including the 14th St. busway, of which the Mayor’s office reported a decrease in injuries by nearly 60 percent after completion in 2019. In these bus corridors, Manhattan residents have reported that there is less car traffic, while the Mayor’s office reported that busways increase bus speeds up to 60 percent and simultaneously reduce injuries by up to 45 percent.

Stretching from Ninth avenue to Third avenue, the corridor is currently one of NYC DOT’s Vision Zero Priority corridors, corresponding to a high number of traffic deaths and serious injuries in the city. According to officials, the dangerous corridor was the site for 324 traffic injuries between 2020 and 2024.

Janno Lieber, chair and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said the project will follow in the steps of the successful 14th St. busway.

“Every time our bus riders sail across 14 St, they get another reminder that busways work,” Lieber said in a press release.

The proposed busway will aim to improve daily bus speeds along the route by 15 percent, picking up the slow three to five mph average the buses are currently operating at.

“Too many New Yorkers spend too much time waiting on buses stuck in traffic. The 34th Street busway will change that, turning one of our most congested bus corridors into one that actually moves,” Mamdani said in a press release.

NYC DOT Commissioner Flynn echoed Mamdani, saying “34th Street is one of Manhattan’s busiest corridors, moving tens of thousands of New Yorkers every day—yet buses are too often stuck in traffic, slowing down commutes and making service unreliable.”

“The 34th Street busway will help deliver faster bus service for riders, safer conditions for pedestrians and a more efficient street for everyone who depends on it,” Flynn added.

The previously paused project is seemingly coming back in full swing: NYC DOT aims to begin public outreach in June, install street furniture late Summer, and complete construction by end of Fall -- hopefully bringing a two-year saga to a satisfying close after being first proposed May 2025.