November 21, 2019

Polly Trottenberg
Commissioner
New York City Department of Transportation
55 Water Street
New York, NY 10041

Dear Commissioner Trottenberg,

I write to request that your agency explore and study the potential for a busway—or other
transformative and forward-thinking bus priority measures such as center-running bus lanes—
along the 125 Street and 181 Street corridors as part of your agency’s work on the Bronx Bus
Network Redesign.

As you are well aware, the introduction of Transit and Truck Priority, also commonly referred to
as a busway, has been transformational for the 14 Street area and the Lower East Side, with
weekday ridership on the M14 A and D routes up nearly 20 percent and travel times down 30
percent. Not captured in those statistics is how much more pleasant and welcoming 14 Street has
become for pedestrians and other visitors.

I am proud to have been the first elected official to publicly support this innovative idea and
believe the successes realized for the M14 routes should be viewed as a model going forward as
we look to further improve bus service. The 9 main bus routes that traverse the 125 Street and
181 Street corridors are perfect places to provide similar aid; each of these routes received a ‘D’
or ‘F’ rating by the Bus Turnaround Coalition—made up of the Riders Alliance, TransitCenter,
the Straphanger’s Campaign, and the Tri-State Transportation Campaign—for slow bus speeds
and poor reliability. Moreover, the 125 Street and 181 Street corridors are potentially even more-
deserving of strong bus priority measures given that they carry nearly 150,000 daily bus riders
combined (around 75,000 for 125 Street and 73,000 for 181 Street), significantly more than 14
Street, which carries around 30,000 riders.

As your agency embarks on both the Bronx Bus Network Redesign and the Better Buses Action
Plan, it should give the 125 Street and 181 Street corridors a hard look for strong bus priority
measures. It is vital that we not only apply proven methods for bus service at a time when
ridership continues to fall, but that we ensure equity as we do so. Northern Manhattan bus riders
deserve to reap the same potential benefits that riders in Lower Manhattan have seen.

If either of these corridors enter discussion for busway consideration and implementation, I look
forward to a robust community engagement effort that would obtain input from the community
regarding their specific needs.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. Should you have any questions or follow-
up, please contact my office at 212-669-8300.

Sincerely,

Gale A. Brewer
Manhattan Borough President

cc: Andy Byford, President, MTA-New York City Transit

Craig Cipriano, Acting President, MTA Bus Company
Rob Marino, Government and Community Relations, MTA-New York City Transit
Ed Pincar Jr., Manhattan Borough Commissioner, NYC DOT
Eutha Prince, District Manager, Community Board 9
Shatic Mitchell, District Manager, Community Board 10
Angel Mescain-Archer, District Manager, Community Board 11
Ebenezer Smith, District Manager, Community Board 12