Better Buses Restart 5th Avenue Busway Pilot · Recap of 5th Ave CAB #1 • In June, Mayor de...

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Better Buses Restart – 5th Avenue Busway Pilot Community Advisory Board #2, July 28, 2020

Main Street, Flushing

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Table of Contents

• Recap of 1st CAB Meeting (July 1, 2020)

• Travel Patterns Along 5th Avenue

• Preliminary Design Proposal

• Next Steps

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5th AvenueMidtown

Manhattan

Recap of 5th Ave CAB #1

• In June, Mayor de Blasio announced

a plan for fast, reliable transit service

during reopening

– Buses have played a vital role during

the shutdown and recovery

– Bus ridership is already at 54% of

pre-Covid levels, while subway

ridership is only at 23%

• 5th Ave is one of five new busway

pilots, with a 12-month pilot period

• These projects will help people get

around more easily, with better

service and less crowding

Better Buses Restart Plan

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5th Avenue – 57th Street to 34th Street


• Major commercial/retail corridor and tourist destination

• Critical bus corridor for commuters from across the city

• High pedestrian and cyclist volumes

• Safety concerns

• Community requests for improvements 4

NYPL

Main

Branch

Rockefeller

Center

Empire

State

Building

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Through-traffic

Restrictions –

example from

14th St

Protected Bike Lane

Dual Bus Lanes

Sidewalk Extensions

Local Traffic Access &

Pickup/Drop-off Zones

Proposed Busway Treatments

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Issues Raised at CAB #1

• Accelerated timeline of project

• Enforcement

• Taxi/FHV pickup/drop-off

• Local access for vehicle traffic

• Busway and turn regulations

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Travel Patterns

Along 5th Avenue

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Vehicle Travel Speeds

Travel Patterns Along 5th Avenue

• During pandemic,

speeds greatly

increased as volumes

dropped

• As traffic begins to

return, however,

daytime speeds are

dropping and will

continue to decrease

• Important to make

changes now before

congestion fully

returns

0

5

10

15

20

25

MP

H (

avera

ge)

Time of Day

Vehicle Travel Speeds: 72nd to 34th Street, 5th Ave

Tuesday,June 9,2020

Tuesday,July 21,2020

Oct. 2019WeekdaysAvg.

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Busway Potential to Improve Speeds


• Decreases in traffic during the pandemic also led to significant

speed increases for buses

• AM Peak bus speeds increased 32%, PM speeds increased 48%

• Shows potential for improvement that busway can provide

5th Avenue from 60 St to 37 St

TimeAvg. Bus Speed

Spring 2019

Avg. Bus Speed

Spring 2020% Chg.

7 – 9 AM 9.0 11.8 +32%

4 – 7 PM 7.9 11.7 +48%

Source: MTA Q32 Bus Speeds Data

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Bus Ridership & Frequency


• 110,000 daily bus riders on

routes serving 5th Ave (2019)

• 41 bus routes coming from all

5 boroughs – 51% of riders from Manhattan

routes

– 49% of riders from routes

originating in other boroughs

• 60-160 buses per hour

throughout the day

– Includes MTA, school buses,

tour buses, other private buses Source: DOT bus counts, Sept 2019

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

0:0

0

0:4

5

1:3

0

2:1

5

3:0

0

3:4

5

4:3

0

5:1

5

6:0

0

6:4

5

7:3

0

8:1

5

9:0

0

9:4

5

10:3

0

11:1

5

12:0

0

12:4

5

13:3

0

14:1

5

15:0

0

15:4

5

16:3

0

17:1

5

18:0

0

18:4

5

19:3

0

20:1

5

21:0

0

21:4

5

22:3

0

23:1

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5th Avenue, 47th St to 46th StBus Volumes by Hour

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Bus Travel Time & Speeds


• Overnight, buses can

travel from 57th to 34th

in 6 minutes

• Same trip takes 2-3

times as long in the

daytime

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

5th Ave from 57th St to 34th StAverage Bus Travel Time - MTA Local Buses

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Average Bus Travel Time - MTA Express Buses

Source: MTA, October 2019 data

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Bus Reliability


• Traffic congestion also

makes bus running time

less reliable

• Can vary by 10-30

minutes even at same

time of day

• Leads to long and

unpredictable waits at

bus stops, bus

bunching, and crowding

at bus stops and on the

bus Source: MTA, October 2019 data. Each color

represents a different route.

(min

)

Variation in Bus Running Time along 5th Ave

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Pedestrian Volumes


• On a typical weekday, pedestrian counts show high numbers all day:– 2,000-3,000 pedestrians per hour in

the morning peak (7-9 AM)

– 7,000-10,000 per hour in the evening peak (4-7 PM)

• Holiday counts reach 30,000+ pedestrians per hour

• A busway allows more space for pedestrians during pandemic recovery

5th Av at 45 St

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Bicycle Volumes


• ~1,800 cyclists use 5th Ave

daily. Can exceed 2,500

on a nice weather day

• Highest ridership on a

Manhattan corridor without

a bike lane

• East River bike crossings

are up 6% in Jan.-June

2020 vs. Jan.-June 2019

• A busway on 5th Ave

creates space for a

dedicated bike lane during

pandemic recovery

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Bicycle Volumes, 5th Ave at 51 St

Weekday 2019 Weekend 2019

Source: DOT bicycle counts, Summer 2019.

Note: Weekend count date was rainy, so reported

volumes likely lower than average weekend.

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Preliminary

Design Proposal

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Overview

5th Avenue Busway Plan & Design

Limit southbound through travel to buses, bikes and emergency vehicles

• All traffic must turn off 5th Avenue prior to 57th Street

• Proposed busway hours: 24 hours, seven days a week (to match existing 5th Ave bus lane hours)

• Alert signage will be provided north of 57th Street and on side streets

Allow local access onto 5th Avenue

• In general, all local traffic must exit 5th Avenue busway at next available turn

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Overview

5th Avenue Busway Plan & Design

With traffic restrictions in place, space on 5th Ave becomes

available for several other needs:

• Implement protected bicycle lane

• Add sidewalk space along east curb

• Provide pickup & drop-off space

DOT will coordinate with NYPD on traffic management and

enforcement

• Use of enforcement cameras may become available

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Typical Midblock

Cross Section

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Existing

Proposed

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Typical Intersection

Cross Section

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Existing

ProposedRight turns can be

made from bus lanes

Left turns can be made for local

access and exit off busway

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North of East 57th Street

Alternative Southbound Routes

6th7th

5th

3rd

2n

d

1s

t

Ma

d

Lex

Park

E 65

E 62

E 60

E 58

Queensboro

Bridge

E 57

5th Ave Busway

Begins at 57th St

Use Alternate

Route South

Example busway signage

Alternate

Route

Busway

Begins

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57th St

Local

access

permitted

Last

available

turn

before

busway

begins

All

vehicles

must exit,

except

buses56th St

55th St

54th St

Mad

iso

n A

ve

58th St

Access

Closed

• All vehicles travelling south

on 5th Ave must exit at 57th

St

• All vehicles accessing 5th

Ave from 56th and 55th

Streets must exit by 54th St

Local Access

57th Street to 54th Street

Reviewing existing turn restrictions to

allow access throughout the day

Busway

Begins

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Local

access

permitted

Last

available

turn

before

busway

begins

All

vehicles

must exit,

except

buses

Mad

iso

n A

ve

52nd St

51st St

50th St

49th St

53rd St


Ave must make the next

available turn as shown

Local Access

53rd Street to 49th Street

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47th St

Local

access

permitted

Last

available

turn

before

busway

begins

All

vehicles

must exit,

except

buses

46th St

Mad

iso

n A

ve48th St

49th St




Local Access


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Local

access

permitted

Last

available

turn

before

busway

begins

All

vehicles

must exit,

except

buses

45th St

Mad

iso

n A

ve

44th St

43rd St

42nd St





Ave from 43rd St must exit

by 40th St

Local Access

45th Street to 42nd Street

Existing No Turns

from 42nd St

(except buses)

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Local

access

permitted

Last

available

turn

before

busway

begins

All

vehicles

must exit,

except

buses

41st St

Mad

iso

n A

ve

40th St

39th St

38thSt


Ave from 43rd St must exit

by 40th St




42nd StLocal Access

42nd Street to 38th Street

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Local

access

permitted

Last

available

turn

before

busway

begins

All

vehicles

must exit,

except

buses

38th St

Mad

iso

n A

ve

37th St

36th St

35th St

34th St




• Busway ends at 34th St

Local Access


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Next Steps

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Stakeholder Engagement

Next Steps

• CAB to meet regularly throughout 12-month pilot period

– Next CAB meeting to be held mid-August

• Project information is now live at

www.nyc.gov/betterbuses

– Click on “Better Buses Restart Projects” then scroll down to 5th

Ave

– Presentations & other materials

– Comment submission form

• Launching project feedback portal this week

– Will share with CAB once site is live

– Will also post on social media, share with other stakeholders

http://www.nyc.gov/betterbuses

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Next Steps

June 2020

• Begin outreach

• Begin project coordination

July-September 2020

• Community Advisory Board (CAB) Meetings

• Project design and coordination

• Ongoing stakeholder engagement and outreach

• Phased implementation begins

Fall 2020 –Spring 2021

• Ongoing CAB Meetings


• Phased implementation continues, with adjustments as needed

Summer 2021

• Busway performance evaluation through pilot end date


Project Timeline

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NYC DOT NYC DOT nyc_dot NYC DOT

Questions & Discussion

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