NYC Bus Crisis: Lessons from Europe

New York City's bus system is in dire straits. Ridership has plummeted by 41% since 2000, fare evasion is rampant (costing the MTA $568 million in 2024), and nearly one-third of buses run late. This isn't just inconvenient; it's a crisis.

While the MTA's Bus Network Redesign is underway, it's not enough. We need to look to Europe for solutions.

Three Cheap, Effective Fixes:

1. Better Bus Lanes

New York needs more and better bus lanes, less vulnerable to disruption. Paris's Trans-Val-de-Marne busway, with its physically separated lanes, offers a great model. Building these barriers is quick and inexpensive.

2. Expand All-Door Boarding and Proof of Payment

Current policies are a failure. All-door boarding, like in Vienna, increases boarding speed by 38%. Vienna's system uses roving fare inspectors instead of drivers handling payments—a model that's proven successful in San Francisco, increasing bus speed without impacting fare evasion rates. The MTA could easily expand this to all routes using existing OMNY readers.

3. Remove Duplicative Stops

Excessive stops cause significant delays. International best practice is about one stop per 1320 feet (compared to NYC's average of 805 feet). The MTA's recent network redesigns haven't done enough to address this issue.

The Bottom Line

These improvements are relatively inexpensive and straightforward. It's time for the MTA to prioritize these low-hanging fruits before investing in more expensive technology or construction. Learning from Europe's successes is key to revitalizing NYC's bus system.