Where NYC bus priority deserves closer evaluation

Liam Blank

June–August 2026 · Local, Limited, and Select Bus Service. Operating speeds use weekdays and both directions. Rider measures use passenger-weighted, modeled unlinked bus rides across Peak and Off-Peak periods, with signed additional time retained.

Waiting drives the rider-time burden.
Modeled bus rides accumulated 7.52 million additional rider-hours relative to the timetable. Waiting accounts for 84% of that signed net total: 6.32 million hours waiting and 1.21 million hours onboard.
Calculation 1
Journey reliability leaves substantial room for improvement.
71.3% of modeled rides finished within five minutes of the scheduled journey time.
Calculation 2
Afternoon service is slower than morning service.
Weekday buses averaged 7.07 mph from 4–7 PM, versus 7.72 mph from 7–9 AM—a 8.3% speed difference.
Calculation 3
Manhattan has the slowest borough-assigned bus service.
Manhattan routes averaged 6.17 mph on weekdays, compared with a network average of 7.73 mph.
Calculation 4
The slowest crosstown routes concentrate street-level delay.
The M50 averaged 4.72 mph, the M57 4.86 mph, and the M42 4.95 mph. Explore their stop pairs to locate the slowest streets and compare hours.
Calculation 5
Select Bus Service has a higher observed speed.
SBS averaged 8.97 mph versus 7.56 mph for Local service, a 18.6% difference across the observed route groups. Use corridor-specific before-and-after comparisons to estimate intervention effects.
Calculation 6
Evaluate continuous priority on Church Avenue.
B35 rides accumulated 119,855 additional rider-hours while weekday buses averaged 5.70 mph. The current-inventory dedicated-lane match is 1.4% of eligible recorded bus-miles. Examine continuity between Nostrand and Utica Avenues and the Kings Highway approaches as NYC DOT and MTA develop Church Avenue improvements.
Calculation 7
Evaluate Flatbush beyond the center-running project.
B41 rides accumulated 122,726 additional rider-hours; weekday buses averaged 6.52 mph. The current-inventory lane match is 2.6% of eligible recorded bus-miles, compared with 5.1% networkwide. Evaluate continuity south of Grand Army Plaza and measure the Livingston–Grand Army Plaza project after completion.
Calculation 8
Use Tremont’s summer performance as a baseline.
Bx36 rides accumulated 143,667 additional rider-hours; weekday buses averaged 6.16 mph, and 65.3% of modeled rides finished within five minutes of schedule. The Tremont busway opened September 23. Evaluate its post-opening performance and priority connections west of Webster Avenue and east of Southern Boulevard.
Calculation 9
Test operating-time opportunities at the street level.
A uniform 15% reduction applied to all recorded B41 weekday segment travel minutes gives 4,608 bus-hours saved across the quarter. This scenario assumes the reduction. In the explorer, select specific streets and change the percentage to test a focused intervention.
Calculation 10

Lane comparisons use the October 1 inventory and route shapes valid during the observation month. Unknown matching inputs are excluded from the lane denominator; 97.4% of weekday recorded bus-miles are eligible. The inventory omits the newly opened Tremont busway. Evaluate that project using its documented boundaries and post-opening observations.

Project records: Flatbush · Tremont · PriorityPlans

Where NYC bus priority deserves closer evaluation

Waiting drives the rider-time burden.

Journey reliability leaves substantial room for improvement.

Afternoon service is slower than morning service.

Manhattan has the slowest borough-assigned bus service.

The slowest crosstown routes concentrate street-level delay.

Select Bus Service has a higher observed speed.

Evaluate continuous priority on Church Avenue.

Evaluate Flatbush beyond the center-running project.

Use Tremont’s summer performance as a baseline.

Test operating-time opportunities at the street level.