New York City is set to move forward with a long-delayed busway on 34th Street between Ninth Avenue and Third Avenue in Midtown, Manhattan. The plan is intended to improve travel times for more than 28,000 daily bus riders while enhancing street safety, freight movement, and emergency vehicle access. The initiative builds on the city’s previous bus-priority projects, including the 14th Street busway.
The corridor is designated as a Vision Zero Priority Corridor due to its history of serious traffic crashes. According to NYC DOT, 324 traffic injuries were recorded along 34th Street between 2020 and 2024. The agency said busways elsewhere in the city have increased bus speeds by up to 60 percent and reduced injuries by as much as 45 percent, while injuries along the 14th Street busway declined by nearly 60 percent after implementation.
Rendering of plans for 34th Street and Park Avenue, via NYC.
Under the plan, the busway will operate daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Through traffic will be limited to buses, trucks, and emergency vehicles, while local vehicle access will be maintained with drivers required to make the next available turn to exit the corridor. NYC DOT said traffic studies found surrounding streets can absorb rerouted vehicle traffic without significant impacts to travel times.
Public outreach is expected to begin this month, with street furniture installation planned for later this summer and construction scheduled for completion by the end of the fall.
“Too many New Yorkers spend too much time waiting on buses stuck in traffic,” said Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “The 34th Street busway will change that, turning one of our most congested bus corridors into one that actually moves. This is how we build a transit system that meets the scale of our city: fast, reliable and built for the people who depend on it every day.”
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