Flushing busway cuts commute time, DOT says

The Main Street Busway is up and running with improved travel times, the Department of transportation announced last week. AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

By Rachel Vick

Public transit riders traveling Main Street in Flushing have seen their commutes cut by up to a third since the city turned a stretch of the congested roadway into a bus-only route, the Department of Transportation said March 19.

Daytime bus speeds have increased by 15 to 24 percent along the various Main Street routes since the city converted the 0.3-mile stretch between Northern Boulevard and Sanford Avenue into a busway, according to DOT data. During evening rush hour, speeds are up 13 to 31 percent, the agency said.

Before the busway, buses plodded along at under 4 mph —  slightly higher than the average New Yorker’s walking pace. Now the buses exceed 5 mph, modest speeds but nevertheless significant for commuters, transit officials said. 

“The key to an effective bus system is well-enforced bus priority," said Craig Cipriano, president of the MTA Bus Company and the agency’s senior vice president for buses. "We’re thrilled that the Main Street Busway is improving commutes for thousands of customers."

The improved commute times reflect initial DOT projections of a 23 percent increase in speed.

The busway’s success comes as no surprise, said Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director for Riders Alliance.

“Studies show that busways are good for riders, good for business and good for businesses,”  Pearlstein told the Eagle. “We’re in the middle of a pandemic that hit Flushing hard and early, and increasing access for more New Yorkers is the right thing to do to bring more people in to do more business as we build back.”

“Flushing is a shining example of what a busway can do,” he added.

The city in January banned cars from traveling the length of Main Street between Northern Boulevard and Sanford Avenue. Vehicles that turn onto that section of Main Street are permitted to travel one block before making the first available turn. Similar busways exist along 14th Street in Manhattan and Jay Street in Brooklyn.

The new route was unpopular among many business owners and local elected officials who panned a plan to prohibit parking and car travel. 

A coalition of businesses sued the city to stop the busway, but Queens Judge Kevin Kerrigan ruled that the DOT has the power to change street design and restrict car travel.

The busway is a one-year pilot program and will be reexamined early next year. 

In the meantime, the Flushing Business Improvement District is conducting an independent study of the route’s larger impact, a BID spokesperson told the Eagle

“We don’t want to jump to conclusions,” he said.