By Gus Saltonstall
An Upper West Side elected official, along with the local community board, is pushing to implement Transit Signal Priority for buses at eight key intersections in the neighborhood.
Transit Signal Priority, or TSP, is technology that detects when a bus is approaching a traffic signal, and then extends or delays the green light by five to 10 seconds in a way that favors the vehicle, so it doesn’t end up getting stuck at a crosswalk and causing traffic delays.
Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal penned a letter last week to the New York City Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority requesting that the TSP technology be added to the following eight Upper West Side locations, which were identified in partnership with Community Board 7’s Transportation Committee.
- 72nd Street and West End, which would help the M72 and M57.
- 73rd Street and Amsterdam, which would help the M5, M57, and M104
- 79th Street and Amsterdam, which would help the M79-SBS
- 81st Street and Amsterdam, which would help the M79-SBS, M7, and M11
- 87th Street and West End, which would help the M86-SBS
- 97th Street and West End, which would help the M96
- 97th Street and Broadway, which would help the M96
- 106th Street and Broadway, which would help the M60-SBS
“The intersections listed are congested areas that often create bottleneck conditions for New York City buses, causing delays and incidents of bus bunching,” Rosenthal wrote in her letter. “By simply allowing drivers to extend or delay green lights at these intersections, buses would be able to reach their destinations more efficiently, improve schedule adherence and decrease travel times.”
Rosenthal also mentioned a bus ride-along on the M104 last March with NYC Transportation President Demetrius Crichlow, where she says he committed to expanding TSP implementation across the west side of Manhattan.
TSP technology for buses has already been installed at thousands of intersections across the five boroughs.
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Want to make busses faster? Lets get rid of some stops. Broadway has a bunch that are only a couple of streets away which is crazy. Also, somehow teach everyone to exit via the back door. So much time is wasted the current method where half of the people exit through the front. This last one would of course require bus drivers to actually learn to pull to the bus stop properly so that the back door is actually accessible though.
On some routes, particularly on the UWS and parts of the UES, the majority of riders are older, even elderly. And even (or particularly) those without mobility scooters really do need bus stops as close together as they are.
Now, this may not be the case throughout all five boroughs, or even the entire borough of Manhattan. But Ms. Rosenthal’s district includes one of the largest and fastest-growing NORCs (naturally-occurring retirement community) in the entire country, with thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of seniors.
As a related aside, that is why the M104 is consistently one of the slowest buses in the City: because a large swath of the people getting on and off b/w ~96th and ~59th Street are older, and have either canes, walkers or mobility scooters. In this regard, it is not the number of stops that needs to be decreased. It is the number of buses that need to be INCREASED..
I’ve always wondered why we don’t have buses specifically for those with walkers, wheelchairs and strollers. It would make the “regular” busses so much faster.
And how often would these dedicated busses run? A scheduling nightmare, and possibly requirement of additional vehicles.
With the borough bus redesigns, they will try to reduce stops.
Pls note that the back door is for EXITING only. You cannot pay on those terminals, only on the front ones. Entering in the rear is still a crime. The MTA admits publicly that it losses at least 750 million from fare beating each year Perhaps if the city council etc stopped demonizing the enforcement of criminal acts the fare would not be 3 and going up next year as well. MTA already passed a “mutli year revenue enhancement plan” In non Politico language…fares, tolls etc. go up every year or so
Try putting yourself in the position of someone who uses a cane or walker for whom the bus is a lifeline because subway stairs are unworkable. Say you’re lucky enough to get one of the ‘elderly/disabled’ seats in the front of the bus. When it’s time to exit do you stumble through a moving bus to get to the rear door, negotiate the sometimes balky doors, and find yourself faced with a fire hydrant or garbage bins? Or do you walk a few steps to the front door, which the nice driver “kneels” for you so you can get off easily and safely? It’s the only reasonable choice, and most passengers waiting to get on are kind enough to understand.
A repeat offender problem: carriages and walkers should be folded to make more room. This never happens. It takes only two, fully extended,
to fill all the space at the front of the bus.
You might want to add the “other side” of that issue, which is that NO ONER ever wants to actually “move to the back of the bus,” even when drivers repeat it over and over. If people actually did this, there would be far less congestion at the front. I’ve ridden uses on which the front was completely jammed – yet there was enough room in the back, including open seats, for at least 20 people (on SBS buses). So some people are just plain SELFISH and that, too, causes congestion in the front.
How about an ad campaign urging the public to move to the back of the bus? Something like “see something, say something” after 9/11. Get a celeb to do it.
I couldn’t agree more. We all need to be considerate within our limitations.
NYC has always had this stop structure – and bus riders need them.
People with mobility issues, families with children, women especially depend on buses.
Bus stops should not be removed.
How to make buses faster? Nitro injection engines, baby! Buses all already have hydraulics for some sweet as low-rider action. Top it off with a window-to-the-wall sound system and the wheels on this bus will be going round and round and round.
Or we could “teach people” “how to use the back door” “so they could be more efficient” “and productive.”
Everything I learned I learned in kindergarten as they say — multiplication tables, the tea pot dome scandal, synergistic effects of pharmaceutical drugs — no how-to’s about back door usage en el autobus. Oh yeah, fluent Spanish as well. Maybe you should make a tic tok tho?
Yes! Nitro Injection Funny Buses!
Vision zero has made buses slower, so has the proliferation of Uber and Lyft.
Eliminating stops would be detrimental to seniors and people with mobility issues. Not recommended. And yes, drivers should ask passengers to exit through the rear door, specially when the bus is full.
Surprised to hear TSP is in use in NYC.
Hope this happens.
Also although there is constant discussion about bus lanes as the solution for improving bus transit there, is little acknowledgement of impact of lights at each block.
Loading is another major factor – for example just on a bus and during the trip two people got on with strollers, one person with a walker, two people with canes and one with a shopping cart.
Another bus was packed and impacted loading.
People with mobility issues depend on buses.
More frequent buses would help.
In addition, standardizing the entire operation ( like so many other European nations) whereas., buses stop exactly where there is an easy path to board, not in front of the glass divider, not where people are let off in front of a mound of garbage bags, not where people are left off in front of a fire hydrant, but rather a very predictable standardized system would go a tremendously long way in addressing bus speeds. This is especially important when the bus has to lower the ramp for a wheelchair or a walker. Why is it that every time they do, It seems like they are doing it for the very first time. Many times bus drivers have to stop and pull forward a little or shut the doors and back up a little – all losing very precious time Shouldn’t this be clearly marked, repeatable, and a clear procedure?
Of course, there will be odd times, including snow storms, when things will be off, but in general, they should be able to work over 95% of the time.
Have you been to NYC?
Mamdani ran on free buses, that would make them load faster.
Passengers could load from all doors.
Oh wait the city can not afford the campaign promise.
All door boarding is going to come once the MetroCard is completely gone. They are removing the fareboxes and also you will not be allowed to pay cash for buses anymore.
According to the MTA chair, all door boarding isn’t coming until there are European-style fare monitors on the buses.
It has never been within his power to make bus rides free.
The city fully funds a division of the MTA called MTA Bus Company. Theoretically they can be made free.
Nothing will help unless drivers, including buses, do not “block the box“. Very few people seem to follow this basic rule, which, if we were enforced, equally and consistently, would do the same thing this proposal tries to address.
This is a problem you see everywhere, and it needs to be taken seriously.
Sure, spending extra money for “technological“ fixes not necessary) might help a little, but the real problem is the driver‘s disregard for common rules of the road. This is just throwing money at the problem, not a real solution.
I’ve been hoping for something like this since I first moved to NYC in 1983!
If the bus is coming, have your payment method ready. Don’t start reaching into your pocket, wallet, purse, whatever to get it. Then get on the bus and move in.
How often do buses slow down to catch a red light in order to avoid getting ahead of schedule? What makes anyone think they won’t continue to do that?
Worth trying. But even more compelling would be to make 72nd Street like 14th Street and make it effectively bus-only.
This is the way.
UWS Dad,
Confused
“Bus-only” is needed in your opinion to improve bus transit?
But – unless it is a different “UWS Dad” – you’ve commented in the past that it is fine to detour buses for Open Streets?
Its me alright! Yes bus-only lanes would be a great way to speed up buses and improve transit. On a few Sundays a year rerouting a bus for community events like Open Streets seems totally fine.
I’m not convinced you even care about public transportation since you only seem to comment to bash Open Streets… Probably ~95% of the delays bus riders experience are from regular weekday traffic or double parked cars in the bus stop, so since we both claim to care about bus delays lets focus our efforts there shall we?
Buses are not to provide good service but are to be weaponized to spite car drivers and other undesirable vehicles.
The M72 only runs every 7-10 minutes at best.
The M5 and M57 don’t run frequently either and only share one block during the route.
72nd should not be “bus-only”
Amen! https://action.openplans.org/reimagine-w72nd-street/
Open Plans is a bike lobby affiliate. They are interested in bike improvements, bike expansion.
Not buses
False, Open Plans advocates for pedestrian friendly streets but turns out when its safer to be a pedestrian, its safer to be a cyclist too. Just look at that 72nd street redesign and tell me that isn’t a massive improvement!
Open Plans was founded by Mark Gorton who wants the private car (except his own) to be very very limited and funds RFK Jr.
https://nypost.com/2024/06/16/us-news/meet-the-anti-vaxx-millionaire-donor-behind-congestion-pricing-and-rfk-jr/
He has a “vision of a livable city where people get around by transit and bike and the private car is very very limited”
Sounds like a very worth cause and I wish him lots of success!!
Yes in a country as big as ours, people will then be less inclined to travel farther distances and transit will still have its limits. You all know it which is why 15 minute cities are a thing. Ultimately you want a high tech 19th century society where few people ventured far from their homes. It is unspoken but you and I both know it is true.
97th and West End is the last stop of the cross town. There’s no reason to change the lights for that, especially since 99% of the time when the buses get to the first stop of the cross town they just sit there in order to stay on schedule.. to that point, , the bus driver should let people get on the bus in that interim period instead of forcing people to stand in the cold and heat. That’s a big reason taking public transportation is so miserable.
M5, M57, and M104 do not touch 73 Street and Amsterdam Avenue. Maybe… 72 Street and Amsterdam?
They do. The M104 turns right onto 73rd to get back to Broadway. The M57 uses 73rd as part of its turnaround path.
Now all you have to do is figure a way to get the average UWSer to get off their gadgets. Regularly people walk across major avenues against the light and/or when its with seconds from turning red against them. They dart out looking not at the light or possible traffic but starting down at their gadget. Even if they are looking up they have both earbuds in, so they cannot hear
a car and have no situational awareness. This leads to phones, bags etc being grabed as folks go by on an ebike. The last is rampant on the UWS
Agreed. There should be a function where phones cannot be used while you are in motion – step to the side if you need to look at something, rather than slowly walking and going back and forth across the sidewalk. Oh yes, I forgot – the person doing this is super important and doesn’t care about anyone else.
Also agree on not riding with ear buds in. I got some smug satisfaction recently when someone had their ear buds in on a subway and didn’t hear them announce it was running express (about 10 people hustling to get off at the last second should have also clued them in). Then they acted very upset when the subway skipped their stop. Sorry. Pay attention.
Now get off my lawn (if I had one!)
This sounds like a great idea. I wish we could find a way to limit private vehicles from filling our city streets. There should be more subways, more busses & more cabs.. The private cars have to go!!!!! instead of single buss lanes there should be just a single car lane and let the buses & cabs be in any lane…
87th and WEA is the last stop on the M86, and the bus parks there until the line of buses starting the route on 86th Street clears. Why would you need TSP there? (See similar comment about West 97th St and WEA). It seems the Assemblymember didn’t do her homework before making this overly broad proposal.
One of the best “new” things the MTA has done for buses is on the crosstown routes, where the bus lane has a separate light that turns green BEFORE the other lights, allowing buses to get into the transverse ahead of all other vehicles. Prior to this, buses had to “fight” to get across town, often ending up blocking 5th Avenue or CPW. Now the crosstown buses move much more smoothly (and quickly) into and through the transverses.
Queue jumps are generally not a bad idea. That actually is more helpful than bus lanes which do nothing but take up parking spaces.
I am an older New Yorker, who had a bad fall on the 96th Street crosstown and ended up in the ER at Mt Sinai West getting aCT Scan. The driver didn’t respond – only another female passenger helped me. I understand the drivers are afraid of touching an injured persist shouldn’t they call EMS when someone is hurt and lying on the bus floor? The new buses are unsafe for older people – with bars that are too high or missing in the back to steady someone.I have heard of multiple incidents of older people falling and getting seriously hurt. The city is not addressing this problem.
Finally, a good idea that should be relatively simple to implement.
72 and WEA is NOT congested. Duh!!