Eyes on the Street: Bus Lanes Are Coming to Webster Avenue

Select Bus Service lanes are being painted on Webster Avenue in the Bronx. Above, looking north from Claremont Parkway. Photo: Stephen Miller

The Bronx is set to receive its second Select Bus Service route along Webster Avenue and Melrose Avenue. Within a quarter-mile of the route, 61 percent of residents commute by transit, according to DOT, and nearly three-quarters of households are car-free. While buses won’t run in the center lanes — an alignment that Chicago is pursuing on Ashland Avenue because it leads to fewer conflicts with car traffic — the dedicated transit lanes will extend for more than four miles, from East 167th Street to East Gun Hill Road.

Completion of the bus lanes and off-board fare collection machines is scheduled to wrap up soon, with service beginning this summer. Next year, DOT is expecting to install bus bulbs — sidewalk expansions that provide more space for passengers and faster boardings at bus stops. Extension of this Select Bus Service route south to the RFK Triborough Bridge and LaGuardia Airport, meanwhile, is still in the study phase.

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The Bronx Gets Its Second Select Bus Service Route

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Yesterday marked the launch of Select Bus Service on Webster Avenue, speeding transit trips on a critical north-south corridor that lacks convenient subway access. To keep buses in motion, NYC DOT and the MTA upgraded the Bx41 route with dedicated bus lanes, pre-paid fare collection, and all-door boarding. Bus bulbs will be constructed at SBS […]

Webster Avenue SBS Will Not Have Center-Running Bus Lanes

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This spring, there was a glimmer of hope that Webster Avenue in the Bronx would get the first center-running bus-only lanes in New York. With NYC DOT and the MTA bringing Select Bus Service to Webster Avenue, the center-running option would have been the city’s boldest effort yet to implement high-quality bus rapid transit. While […]

Upgrades to LaGuardia Bus Service Will Speed Local Trips Too

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Mayor Bloomberg, NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and MTA Chairman Joe Lhota this morning announced a long-anticipated plan for Select Bus Service to LaGuardia Airport, which should speed travel times to and from neighborhoods in the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens while improving service for local transit users. On the table are three routes: a Select Bus […]