Turnaround Fixing NYC’s Buses Take Action
6, Jun 2022

Turnaround Releases “New Leaders, Faster Buses”, a Blueprint for Better Bus Service for Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul (external)

In February, the Bus Turnaround Campaign released New Leaders, Faster Buses a report detailing how Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams can seal the deal and deliver much better bus service for New Yorkers.

15, Mar 2021

Turnaround Releases “The Big Bus Comeback”, a 2021 pandemic recovery agenda for MTA bus service

In a new report, the Bus Turnaround Coalition calls on MTA Chair Pat Foye and NYCT President Sarah Feinberg to deliver clear, achievable progress on bus service improvements as New York City recovers from the COVID pandemic.

“The Big Bus Comeback” lays out a four-point agenda for MTA bus improvements in 2021:

  1. Enact systemwide all-door boarding by letting riders pay with OMNY at the rear door on every bus route, not just Select Bus Service routes. This will improve speed and reliability for bus riders throughout the city.
  2. Implement the Bronx bus network redesign and move forward with planning the Queens and Brooklyn bus network redesigns. This will improve service in areas that retained substantial bus ridership throughout the pandemic.
  3. Procure bus-mounted cameras for every route with a bus lane. This will clear a path for buses and prevent traffic congestion from slowing down riders’ trips.
  4. Quickly revise bus schedules to reflect faster speeds as a result of bus lanes and signal priority, and stop penalizing bus operators on frequent routes for finishing runs early. This will maximize the benefits of bus lanes and save riders more time.

Read the full report here.

4, Feb 2021

Turnaround Releases “30 Miles to Go” - a blueprint for the Mayor to secure a progressive legacy on transportation

In a new report, the Bus Turnaround Coalition calls on Mayor de Blasio to achieve an ambitious target for bus lane implementation in 2021. “30 Miles to Go” lays out a goal of 30 miles of bus lanes in the mayor’s final year, building on NYC DOT’s acceleration of bus lane projects in 2020.

View the full report here.

 

22, Jun 2020

Turnaround Releases Fast Bus, Fair Recovery Report

Today the Bus Turnaround Coalition issued five recommendations for the MTA and NYC DOT to make bus service faster and safer as New York recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. View the full report here

14, Jan 2020

Turnaround Coalition supports bold changes proposed in Queens bus network redesign

Transit advocates are encouraged by NYCT’s draft proposal to redesign the Queens bus network, which calls for ambitious changes that promise to make service faster and more reliable while enabling riders to reach new destinations. Read full statement here.

12, Dec 2019

Riders lead citywide day of action for better buses

On Wednesday morning bus riders and advocates across the city collected photo petitions calling for bus priority on major streets in all five boroughs. They then gathered on the steps of City Hall to demand that Mayor de Blasio deliver on his Better Buses Action Plan promise of 25% faster bus service citywide by the end of next year. While riders celebrate the 14th Street busway, low-income and bus reliant communities are still waiting to see the same speed improvements that made 14th Street a success.

19, Nov 2019

Turnaround Coalition releases 2019 Progress Report

The Bus Turnaround Coalition presents its third annual review of progress made by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), New York City Transit (NYCT), the New York City Department Of Transportation (NYC DOT) and the New York Police Department (NYPD) on the Bus Turnaround agenda, and an assessment of what these agencies must do going forward to deliver for bus riders.

View the report here.

30, Oct 2019

Riders demand more funding for NYCT’s bus network redesigns

After Governor Cuomo’s transit agency finalized an underwhelming, ‘revenue-neutral’ Bronx bus plan, riders, advocates, and elected leaders called for state funding for more frequent service and new routes to improve transit options in all neighborhoods as part of the redesign program and in advance of congestion pricing.

10, Oct 2019

Turnaround Coalition releases first biennial “Cozy Awards”

Any frequent bus rider knows that when stops are too close together, buses spend more time stuck at stops, leading to slower commutes and poor service. In a city where so many residents rely on public transit, close stops are detrimental to a functioning bus system that truly serves the city.

Fixing this problem is one of the most cost-efficient ways the MTA can improve transit service, since rebalancing stop spacing costs a fraction of many other operational or capital improvements.

The first biennial “Cozies Awards” highlights the prevalence of close bus stops in New York City. We analyzed every MTA Bus and New York City Transit bus stop pair to identify and “award” the closest stop pairs in each borough.

View the Cozies report here

20, Sep 2019

Riders and Elected Officials Say “No” to Service Cuts

With service cuts announced on the B54 and the MTA foreshadowing additional cuts in the fall, bus riders and advocates with the Turnaround Coalition, along with elected officials, called on Governor Cuomo to provide funding to keep service cuts at bay.

15, Aug 2019

Turnaround pushes for Bronx bus redesign funding

After reviewing draft plans for the Bronx bus network that specified a “revenue-neutral” redesign, bus riders and advocates with the Bus Turnaround Coalition, along with elected officials, pushed Governor Cuomo and the MTA to up the ante and invest in better bus service for the Bronx.

1, Aug 2019

Turnaround Coalition releases 2019 Pokey and Schleppie awards

On July 23, NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign and TransitCenter issued 3 “awards” for poor bus service in NYC:

  • The Pokey Award, given to the slowest of NYCT’s local bus routes
  • The Schleppie Award, given to the city’s least reliable bus routes, and
  • The Lifetime Depreciation Award, given to a bus route with such longstanding poor service that may riders have stopped taking it

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6, Mar 2019

Half of all NYC bus routes get a “D” for speed and reliability

This year’s grades from the Bus Turnaround Coalition show that change is possible, but poor overall performance will persist if City Hall and the MTA only roll out a handful of bus upgrades each year. Public officials must make policy that matches the scale of New York’s bus crisis and follow through on promises to implement changes citywide.

 

10, Jan 2019

Turnaround applauds mayor’s pledge to improve bus speeds 25% by the end of 2020

Mayor de Blasio’s plan to make buses quicker and more reliable is what’s needed to give bus riders fair access to opportunity in the city.

20, Dec 2018

Turnaround Coalition serenades mayor with holiday bus carols

The Bus Turnaround Coalition gathered on the steps of City Hall today to ask Mayor de Blasio to grant bus riders’ wish for quicker and more reliable bus service this holiday season.

1, Nov 2018

Bus riders vent their frustration at city hall

Bus riders and advocates with the Bus Turnaround Coalition continue to pressure Mayor de Blasio to deliver on his promise of a fair city by improving service for New York’s more than two million daily bus riders. At two Manhattan bus stops, riders were invited to petition the mayor Via Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, voice, and snail mail, using hashtags #deBUSio and #DeBusIsSlow.
28, Sep 2018

Turnaround Coalition releases 2018 Progress Report

Two years after the launch of our campaign to bring New Yorkers fast and reliable bus service, we offer the following review of progress made by New York City Transit, the New York City Department of Transportation, and the New York City Police Department on the Bus Turnaround agenda.

View the report here.

30, Jul 2018

Turnaround Coalition releases Fast Bus, Fair City report

On Tuesday morning the Bus Turnaround Coalition gathered on the steps of City Hall to announce the Fast Bus, Fair City Report- a set of action items the City of New York can use to bring fairer and more equitable bus service to millions of riders.

View the report here.

24, Apr 2018

The MTA bus action plan is exactly what NYC bus riders need

Today NYC Transit released its Bus Action Plan, a comprehensive vision for rethinking New York City’s bus system. The Bus Action Plan includes many of the solutions advanced by the Bus Turnaround Campaign, including a full bus network redesign, commitment to all-door boarding, improved dispatching, and a plan to prioritize buses on city streets.

 

21, Mar 2018

New MTA NYCT bus performance dashboard is a win for riders

The Bus Turnaround Coalition commends the MTA NYCT for providing riders with the ability to track bus speeds and reliability via its new dashboard. The metrics included in the dashboard reflect what matters to riders, such as time spent at bus stops, travel time, and bus speeds.

 

2, Mar 2018

Riders stage skit to demonstrate the hardships of boarding buses through single door

Members of the Riders Alliance gathered outside of the MTA headquarters before the February MTA board meeting for a theatrical demonstration of the hardships of boarding buses through only one door. They renewed their call for New York City Transit President Andy Byford to commit to implementing all-door boarding city-wide.

14, Feb 2018

This Valentine’s Day: Mayor de Blasio, will you be our bus mayor?

This Valentine’s Day, join us in tweeting @NYCMayor to ask him to be a champion for NYC bus riders by prioritizing buses on city streets. #busmayor #busturnaround

9, Feb 2018

Turnaround Coalition releases new grades for MTA bus routes

The Bus Turnaround Coalition gathered Thursday morning outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall to release new grades for each of NYC’s local bus routes. These grades are based on analysis of bus speeds and reliability over the last year. Out of 246 local bus routes evaluated by the coalition, nearly 75 percent received Ds or Fs.

6, Feb 2018

Waiting for the light

New Yorkers are stuck spending 21% of their bus rides stopped at red lights—but they shouldn’t be: transit signal priority (TSP) can be used to extend green lights or shorten red ones when a bus is approaching, speeding up trips and improving schedule reliability.

5, Dec 2017

Bus riders asked just one thing from the MTA this holiday season: All-door boarding

At this morning’s meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board, bus riders and advocates asked for one thing only from the assembled transit officials for the holidays this year — a plan in place by next summer to permit them to pay the fare at any door on any city bus, once the new fare payment system becomes active.
19, Oct 2017

Bus operators and bus riders unite to demand MTA institute new policy of all-door boarding on buses citywide

A powerful new coalition of bus operators, bus riders, leading transit unions and transit advocates gathered outside MTA headquarters today to demand that the MTA move to a new system of letting riders board through all doors on buses citywide, a system that will make buses safer for operators and faster and more reliable for riders.

20, Apr 2017

District report cards allow riders and elected officials to see quality of service in their districts

The Bus Turnaround coalition released a new, interactive online district-level bus report card tool that allows bus riders and elected officials to see, at a glance, the quality of bus service in their districts.

9, Feb 2017

Top 10 nominees for bus lanes

The Bus Turnaround Coalition has identified the top ten prime streets for practical, near-term bus improvements across all five New York City boroughs.

6, Oct 2016

Turnaround Coalition releases report cards for every bus route in the city

The Bus Turnaround coalition held a rally at City Hall to call on the MTA and DOT to undertake sweeping changes to fix bus service, where ridership has been in free-fall for a number of years. At the rally, the coalition released new route-level report cards with speed and reliability data for local buses.

20, Jul 2016

As bus ridership plummets, new Bus Turnaround coalition releases solutions to fix NYC’s struggling buses

Seeking to reverse years of declining bus ridership and worsening bus speeds and reliability, New York’s leading transit advocates released a new report today that lays out how the city can fix its underperforming bus system. The advocates also launched the Bus Turnaround Campaign, which will apply pressure to win implementation of the report’s recommendations.