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34th Street Busway Moves Forward Again. Questions Still Remain.
MHNAThe proposed 34th Street Busway is back.
Last week, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and NYC DOT announced plans to move forward with a bus-priority corridor along 34th Street between Third and Ninth Avenues. Supporters argue that the project will improve bus service and reduce travel times along one of Manhattan’s busiest crosstown corridors.
The real question is whether a busway addresses the actual problem.
Residents, businesses, and community organizations have long raised concerns about the proposal’s potential impact on Murray Hill and neighboring communities. One of the biggest concerns is traffic diversion. If vehicle access is restricted on 34th Street, where will that traffic go?
34th Street is not simply a neighborhood street. It could be argued that it is Manhattan’s primary east-west corridor, connecting traffic between the Lincoln Tunnel, the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, the FDR Drive, and the West Side Highway. It serves residents, workers, businesses, and visitors traveling to major employment centers, transportation hubs, hospitals, shopping districts, and destinations throughout Manhattan.
Any proposal affecting this corridor should begin with a clear understanding of the role it plays in New York City’s transportation network.
Yet many questions remain unanswered.
One of the most frequently cited statistics used to support the busway is the claim that approximately 28,000 riders use the corridor daily. The figure has appeared repeatedly in presentations, press releases, and public statements. Yet when residents asked DOT for clarification, it could not explain exactly how that number was calculated.
Does it include round trips, meaning the same rider may be counted twice?
Does it include riders on express buses that travel through the corridor but are not using local 34th Street bus service?
Does it represent ridership on the entire route or only the portion proposed for the busway?
These questions matter because public policy should be based on transparent and understandable data, not statistics that are repeated without a clear explanation of their methodology.
Residents have also questioned whether the city’s focus is on the right problem. Anyone who regularly uses 34th Street has experienced crowded buses, long waits, buses arriving in clusters after significant delays, and, more recently, shorter buses operating on the route. These are signs of a service and capacity problem. A busway does not create additional buses, increase service frequency, or add passenger capacity.
In Fall 2025, MHNA examined this question in its article, “A Busway to Nowhere: The M14A Receives an F on Comptroller Brad Lander’s Bus Report Card.” Using data from the Comptroller’s report, MHNA found that the 14th Street Busway’s flagship routes were moving at speeds remarkably similar to those on 34th Street.
According to the report, the M14A averaged 5.9 mph and received an “F,” while the M14D averaged 6.3 mph and earned a “C.” By comparison, the M34A averaged 5.6 mph and also received an “F,” while the M34 averaged 5.4 mph and earned a “D.”
Those findings raise an important question: if the city’s flagship busway is only marginally faster than 34th Street and still earns an average grade of “D,” why is the focus on redesigning 34th Street to resemble 14th Street rather than addressing bus frequency, reliability, and capacity?
There are significantly more buses operating on the 14th Street routes than on the 34th Street routes. If demand is truly as high as city officials claim, why isn’t one of Manhattan’s most important crosstown routes receiving the level of service necessary to meet that demand?
The goal should not simply be faster buses. The goal should be better bus service.
The Federal Highway Administration raised concerns about the proposed 34th Street Busway’s impact on freight movement, emergency access, and compliance with requirements governing the National Highway System. FHWA directed the project to be paused pending further review. To date, we have not found any public announcement indicating that FHWA has formally concluded that review or resolved those concerns.
Residents are also taking note of the timing of the announcement itself. The announcement came one day after Mayor Mamdani appeared at Transportation Alternatives’ annual Streets for People Party, where he presented an award to one of the organization’s honorees. Transportation Alternatives has long been one of the city’s most influential advocates for busways, car-free streets, and vehicle restrictions, including proposals similar to the 34th Street Busway.
Residents deserve confidence that major transportation decisions affecting their neighborhoods are based on comprehensive analysis, transparent data, and meaningful community engagement.
Before redesigning one of Midtown’s most important transportation corridors and potentially shifting traffic onto surrounding residential streets, residents deserve answers to some basic questions:
• Where is the comprehensive traffic analysis?
• How was the ridership data calculated?
• How many minutes are riders actually expected to save?
• How much traffic will be diverted onto surrounding streets?
• What alternatives were considered, including increasing bus frequency and capacity?
• Why is one of Manhattan’s most important crosstown routes operating with fewer buses and, in some cases, smaller-capacity buses if ridership demand is as high as claimed?
• If buses move faster, can residents regain the bus stops that were removed in 2011 in the name of speeding up service back then, such as the eastbound stops on Madison Avenue and Lexington Avenue?
These questions are not anti-transit. They are pro-transparency.
As this proposal moves forward once again, MHNA will continue advocating for a process that is transparent, data-driven, and responsive to our residents and businesses. Murray Hill residents are bus riders too. They deserve better bus service, but they also deserve clear answers, transparent data, and a full understanding of how this proposal will affect the neighborhood they call home and the businesses that serve it.
Learn More: MHNA’s Ongoing Advocacy on 34th Street
The Murray Hill Neighborhood Association has been engaged in discussions about transportation and traffic on 34th Street for many years. During the Bloomberg Administration’s 34th Street Transitway planning process beginning in 2008, MHNA participated in a multi-year advocacy effort focused on protecting neighborhood quality of life, preserving access for residents and businesses, and ensuring that community concerns were heard.
As the current busway proposal emerged, MHNA continued its commitment to keeping residents informed and encouraging public participation. The following articles provide additional background and context on the issue:
- June 4, 2025 – Attend the CB6 Virtual Presentation w/ DOT and MTA on a proposed busway on 34th Street + Concerns from Murray Hill Neighborhood Association
https://murrayhillnyc.org/attend-a-virtual-presentation-by-nyc-department-of-transportation-and-the-mta-on-a-proposed-busway-on-34th-street-between-3rd-and-9th-avenues-monday-june-2nd-at-7pm/ - July 11, 2025 – Urgent Community Update: Complex 34th Street Busway Proposal Raises Concerns for Murray Hill
https://murrayhillnyc.org/urgent-community-update-complex-34th-street-busway-proposal-raises-concerns-for-murray-hill/ - July 20, 2025 – What the MTA’s Own Data Reveals About the 14th Street Busway
https://murrayhillnyc.org/what-the-mtas-own-data-reveals-about-the-14th-street-busway/ - July 23, 2025 – Why Isn’t the 34th Street Bus Using the Empty Bus Lane?
https://murrayhillnyc.org/why-isnt-the-34th-street-bus-using-the-empty-bus-lane/ - July 2025 – Anti-Miracle On 34th Street: Adams Administration Pauses Work On 34th Street Busway – Streetsblog New York City
https://murrayhillnyc.org/anti-miracle-on-34th-street-adams-administration-pauses-work-on-34th-street-busway-streetsblog-new-york-city/ - August 10, 2025 – Murray Hill Alert: 34th Street Busway Revived — But At What Cost?
https://murrayhillnyc.org/%f0%9f%9b%91murray-hill-alert-34th-street-busway-revived-but-at-what-cost/ - August 15, 2025 – CITY COUNCIL PASSES MIDTOWN SOUTH MIXED-USE PLAN, UNLOCKING 2,800+ AFFORDABLE HOMES
https://murrayhillnyc.org/city-council-passes-midtown-south-mixed-use-plan-unlocking-2800-affordable-homes/ - September 10, 2025 — A Busway to Nowhere: The M14A Receives an F on Comptroller Brad Lander’s Bus Report Card
- https://murrayhillnyc.org/a-busway-to-nowhere-the-m14a-receives-an-f-on-comptroller-brad-landers-bus-report-card/
- September 11, 2025 – URGENT RESPONSE NEEDED TO 34th STREET BUSWAY PLAN
https://murrayhillnyc.org/urgent-response-needed-to-34th-street-busway-plan/ - October 4, 2025 – 34th Street Busway
https://murrayhillnyc.org/34th-street-busway/ - October 19, 2025 – Federal Highway Administration Requests Pause on 34th Street Busway Project Following Safety and Accessibility Review
https://murrayhillnyc.org/federal-highway-administration-requests-pause-on-34th-street-busway-project-following-safety-and-accessibility-review/
Collectively, these articles chronicled the evolution of the 34th Street Busway proposal, including community engagement efforts, concerns about traffic diversion and safety, discussions regarding transit efficiency, government decision-making, and the project’s eventual implementation.
Comments (3)
klegg
The recent reduction in car lanes on Third Avenue will further exacerbate the traffic problems as cars that would normally drive across 34th Street will have to turn onto a narrower Third Avenue. Travel to hospitals and clinics by patients will become a fraught puzzle. Daily observation indicates that most bicyclists, other than delivery people, are healthy young men, not a broad segment of the community. We have been hijacked by advocates and lobbyists.
Nancy Sheran
There are other issues affectingn bus speed on 34th Street and these issues must be addressed by DOT before creating the busway. If they are not addressed, having a busway will only make things worse:
1. Vehicles blocking the box at intersections. When vehicles block the box, which I’ve often seen at 9th Avenue and 8th Avenue, the buses can’t get through the intersection. Until we can get traffic light ticketing for block the box, more traffic cops are needed to resolve this problem.
2. Enforcement of bus lanes.
3. Cars turning need dedicated turning signals. All of the intersections on 34th Street that have cars lining up to wait for the opportunity to turn should get dedicated turn signals. This happens at the intersections with heavy pedestrian traffic.
And another thing we need to know with a detailed traffic study is exactly where and when the buses slow down on 34th Street, and if possible the cause of the slowdown. Is it that they can’t get through the intersection, are they picking up lots of passengers with wheel chairs and walkers who need the ramp (this is an acceptable reason), are they behind a turning lane and the cars are not able to turn, are there cars in the bus lane and they can’t get through…Is this happening during rush hour, but at other times it’s OK? Is this happening at 7th, 8th and 9th Avenues, but the bus moves at an acceptable speed at the other parts of 34th Street?
kpstatz
Thank you for asking these important questions. I am very concerned that traffic to, from and between the two tunnels (Midtown and Linclon) will squeeze into the side streets, making our neighborhood even more congested and increasing the amount of toxic fumes from idling cars.
I agree that Transalt is a major force behind these developments. A look at their sponsors shows who’s interests they represent – billionaire investors in car sharing services and delivery apps. Unfortunately, they are also well respresented in our Community Board (6).
Please keep up the pressure to save our neighborhood!