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Transit & Streets Active Updated Jul 13, 2026

The bus speed plan

Mayor Mamdani and Gov. Hochul released the first joint DOT-MTA plan in a decade to speed buses on 50 priority corridors by 20%, commit to all-door boarding by 2027, and build BRT-like routes on five outer-borough stretches. The plan is the most detailed bus commitment the city has made in years but omits the free fares Mamdani paired with speed on the campaign trail, and its success depends on bus-lane enforcement the city has historically failed to deliver.

The story so far

  1. Jul 13, 2026 Latest

    The Mamdani-Hochul bus plan named Utica Avenue, Brooklyn's busiest corridor at more than 40,000 daily riders and currently averaging 6.9 mph, for a bus rapid transit study estimated to cost $220 million, versus the nearly $16 billion the MTA priced a subway extension at in 2023. DOT and the MTA said they will study rapid bus investment options on Utica Avenue but committed to no construction timeline.

    Gothamist

  2. Jul 10, 2026

    The bus plan includes $628 million in city capital funding over five years plus $254 million in expense funding, and the MTA will buy 2,500 new buses to replace 40% of its aging fleet. NYC buses currently average 8 mph, the slowest big-city fleet in the nation.

    The Haitian Times 6sqft

  3. Jul 9, 2026

    In follow-up coverage after the plan's release, Mayor Mamdani told City and State that the fight for free buses is not at all over, framing speed improvements and free fares as separate policy tracks even though the joint 51-page document makes no mention of fare elimination.

    City & State New York - All Content

  4. Jul 8, 2026

    Mayor Mamdani and Gov. Hochul released 'Next Stop: Better Buses, Faster Service,' targeting a 20% speed increase on 50 priority corridors, all-door boarding citywide by 2027, and BRT-like center-running lanes on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, Utica Avenue in Brooklyn, Northern Boulevard in Queens, Church-to-Conduit between Brooklyn and Queens, and Tremont Avenue in the Bronx. The city will install 25 new queue-jump signals per year. The plan does not include free fares, which Mamdani had paired with speed as a campaign pledge.

    Gothamist Streetsblog New York City

On the record

The checkable commitments in this fight, tracked until they are kept or broken.

Pending Jul 8, 2026

Increase bus speeds by 20% on 50 priority corridors

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul (joint city-state 'Next Stop: Better Buses, Faster Service' plan)

“Making their journeys faster and their lives easier has seemed out of reach. That all changes today.”

The joint DOT-MTA plan released July 8, 2026 targets a 20% bus-speed increase on 50 priority corridors, backed by 25 new queue-jump signals a year, expanded bus-lane enforcement, and 2,500 new buses. NYC buses averaged about 8 mph at the plan's release, the slowest big-city fleet in the nation. No corridor results reported yet.

GothamistStreetsblog New York City6sqft

Pending Jul 8, 2026 · due Dec 31, 2027

Implement all-door boarding on every NYC bus route citywide by 2027

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul (joint city-state plan, MTA to execute)

The July 8, 2026 plan commits the MTA to phase in all-door boarding across the bus network, beginning in 2026 and reaching every route by 2027. It would be the first citywide all-door boarding in the system's history. None implemented under the plan as of the announcement.

GothamistStreetsblog New York City

Pending Jul 8, 2026 · due Dec 31, 2030

Open a bus rapid transit center-running route on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn by 2030

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul (joint city-state plan, MTA and DOT to execute)

The plan names Flatbush Avenue as one of five outer-borough corridors slated for BRT-like center-running lanes, with the Flatbush route set to open in 2030 between Livingston Street and Grand Army Plaza. The other four corridors named are Utica Avenue in Brooklyn, Northern Boulevard in Queens, the Church-to-Conduit link between Brooklyn and Queens, and Tremont Avenue in the Bronx.

Streetsblog New York CityThe Haitian Times

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