The 5th Avenue Busway Pilot Project will limit vehicles that travel along 5th Avenue between East 57th Street and East 34th Street to buses, bikes and emergency vehicles. Local access for all vehicles will be permitted, but all vehicles that aren't trucks and buses must make the next available turn off of the corridor.
5th Avenue is an important corridor for buses, with 40 local and express routes that carry over 110,000 daily riders.
Please let us know what you think about transit, traffic, and pedestrian safety issues both on 5th Avenue and its side streets between East 57th Street and East 34th Street. Comments can be related to the Busway treatment specifically, or other improvements that you would like to see included in the project.
Comments (32)
Comments (32)
As mentioned, DOT should build-out safe bike lane intersections at the upcoming 38/39th street crosstown bike lanes to improve bike accessibility to and from the Fifth Ave area.
Why in a city of 8 million residents, should the DOT continue the status quo of providing subsidized on-street car storage and traffic lanes for the most space-inefficient form of transportation: the private vehicle? Bicycles and Buses are much more space-efficient in the sense that space allotted to these modes carries exponentially more riders/commuters per square foot. If the city wholeheartedly takes on the transformation that Amsterdam started in the 70s, much more people would be opting for public transport or bike commuting, thus freeing up space for ALL users, including people who NEED to use private/for-hire vehicles, such as people with disabilities.
As one who has experience working in operations for a large retailer on Fifth Ave, I saw firsthand that easily 99% of revenue came from tourists & local shoppers who arrive via public transport (what tourist rents a car in New York? NONE). Thus it makes sense to implement bus priority improvements since it will make Fifth Ave an even more attractive place to shop with increased bus accessibility, and drive up business.
There is no evidence that improved bus priority infrastructure negatively affects businesses. As a matter of fact, it does the exact opposite (as it did along 14th Street). Improved bus service will draw more commuters and thus bring more foot traffic. How does one think all the tourists/local shoppers on Fifth get to/from the area? Via PUBLIC TRANSPORT!
If DOT invested in better bus priority infrastructure (citywide, not just on 5th Ave) then buses would become more reliable and punctual, and thus be a more attractive option of commuting instead of for-hire/private vehicles. (See 14th Street)
We need full build-out of protected bike lane intersections at 5th/55th and 5th/52nd. There needs to be a safe north-south bike route connecting to these two crosstown lanes, which would allow for more accessible bike options via 5th and two/from Central Park and the Queensborough Bridge. DOT needs to do much more to encourage bike use in the COVID and post-COVID era as it is a socially distant, healthy, and efficient means of commute.
I 100% support the proposed Fifth Avenue Busway as it would increase the speed, efficiency, and therefore reliability of the multiple bus services along the artery. The bulk of commuters on these buses come from uptown, Queens, as well as Brooklyn and Staten Island via express buses. In implementing this, we should consider not only the local businesses (which would benefit from increased foot traffic/commuter traffic) but also the bus/bicycle commuters that use these routes. All in all a net plus!
I think the busway pilot plan is a very good idea. The less traffic on 5th Avenue the better. It is just a glorified shopping mall anyway, and most malls have parking lots. The plan will have very little impact on business. I'm all for it. Also please add nice benches for sitting and more bus stops with seating in that a lot of elderly now live in the neighborhood.
Bikes should yield to pedestrians. I was hit by a bike in a crosswalk bike lane, they do not follow traffic flow.
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