Mamdani Administration Revives 34th Street Busway Paused Under Adams

Eight months and one mayoral inauguration later, the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) is restarting the 34th Street busway redesign.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced Tuesday morning that it would continue with a plan shelved under former Mayor Eric Adams in October 2025 to close off the Midtown thoroughfare to most vehicular traffic to prioritize buses and freight.

The plan, similar to the 14th Street busway, launched in 2019 but was eventually ordered to be halted by the Trump administration last year — among other attempts to stall New York City transit projects — in the final months of Adams’s tenure, which the last administration complied with.

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said Tuesday that the redesign of 34th Street is anticipated to see success similar to the 14th Street busway, in that it will move some 28,000 daily bus riders at a much faster pace — an estimated 60 percent improvement in bus speeds — with reduced gridlock.

The redesign will be completed in the fall.

The 34th Street corridor is also one of the only major crosstown routes in the central business district that does not have a subway running east and west, with 14th Street having the L train and 42nd Street having the 7 train connecting commuters to commercial destinations.

“Every time our bus riders sail across 14th Street, they get another reminder that busways work,” Lieber said in a statement. “It’s time to bring that same great service to 34th Street, one of Manhattan’s busiest crosstown corridors. We are thankful for the partnership with Mayor Mamdani and NYC DOT to make our buses faster than ever, and can’t wait for this project to get started.” 

The Mamdani administration also calculates that the number of injuries along 34th Street will diminish by 45 percent under the new plan. 324 people were hurt in traffic-related incidents from 2020 to 2024, according to data from the administration.

“Too many New Yorkers spend too much time waiting on buses stuck in traffic,” Mamdani said in a statement. “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.” 

But that doesn’t mean privately owned vehicles will be restricted at all times. Under the plan, bus lanes would be active on a daily basis between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., while delivery trucks and emergency vehicles would be permitted to go about their daily routine, according to the Mamdani administration.

Personal cars would be able to use the street as long as they get off 34th Street at the first available turn.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.