These are good days for public buses in New York City. After years and years of crawling behind the traffic and yellow cabs, busses are actually running ahead of schedule.
Why? Because the city’s Department of Transportation has been restricting the number of vehicles that can travel on Manhattan’s bustling 14th Street every day between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
The plan was originally put in place in 2016 after New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority announced it would shut down the L train, which runs below ground across 14th Street in Manhattan, for several months of much-needed repairs to the train line. Fewer vehicles on the road would make space for all the L train riders taking shuttle buses instead. Though a complete L train shutdown was averted at the last minute, the 14th Street driving restrictions held.
The restrictions—alternatively known as the 14th Street busway—have only been in place for a few days, but bus drivers are already purposefully driving slower to arrive at their stops on time, reports the Wall Street Journal. New York City public transit riders are predictably thrilled, going to social media to express the joy that comes with actually moving quickly in New York City.
For all of us, this development in New York City is just another testament to how efficient public transport can be when we take space back from cars. The company also said it will collect and recycle over 600,000 tons of plastic every year.
