Bus Ridership and Bus

Service Trends
New York City Transit | MTA Bus Company

March 20, 2017

Outline

Bus Ridership Trends

Factors Affecting Bus Ridership

Strategies

Next Steps

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 Bus Ridership Long Term Trends
Annual NYC Transit Bus Ridership
Millions
1,200

1,000
1969-1984 Steep Decline: 2008-2011
-43.8% Steep
Decline: -9.4%
800

2002-2008
600 Stable: 2011-2016
Stabilization and
Slow Decline
1984-1996 Slow Decline: -4.5%
400 1996-2002
-15.1% Rapid
Increase:
+57%
200

-
1969

1971

1973

1975

1977

1979

1981

1983

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

2003

2005

2007

2009

2011

2013

2015
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 Bus Ridership
% Change
Change in Annual Bus Ridership by Borough
+12%
10%
1.1

Subway

Queens
723,000 (+2%)
0%
1
Staten Island 128,000 (0%)

Bronx 539,000 (-3%)

Brooklyn
-10%
0.9

Manhattan 636,000 (-14%)

-20%
0.8

411,000 (-27%)

0.7
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

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Modal Shifts and Competition
Shift to Subway
2007 to 2016 ridership change:
-29% high overlap routes
-18% medium overlap routes
-2% low overlap routes

Shift to Other Modes

Bicycles and TNCs

Demographic Shifts

Subway Overlap Bus Routes

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Bus Speeds
Slower Bus Speeds
Average bus speeds dropped
in all five boroughs from 2014
to 2016
For individual routes, declines
can be more pronounced
Slower bus speeds decrease
performance, worsen
reliability, and cost resources

Weekday PM Peak Local and Limited Service Oct 2016

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Strategies Select Bus Service
SBS brings:
Buses 10-30% faster
10%+ increases in ridership in first
year and continued growth
above the borough

SBS Routes:
13 SBS routes and 6 more planned LGA
over the next 2 years
16% of local bus ridership is on SBS

SBS Features:
Bus Lanes
Reduced Stop Spacing
All-Door Boarding
Transit Signal Priority

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Strategies Bus Lanes
118 miles of bus lanes
62 miles used by SBS

5+% of bus network has bus lanes

One-third of bus lanes (42 miles) have

been installed since 2012

3 types of bus lanes: Curbside (54%),

Off-set (28%), and Shared HOV (18%)

Hours of Operation of bus lanes vary

from AM peak only to all times Webster Avenue

The effectiveness of bus lanes

depends on many factors, including
bus lane type, hours of operation,
and enforcement

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 Strategies Effectiveness of Bus Lanes
Case Study of AM Peak Only Lanes

M106 Fifth Ave M101 Lexington Ave

Bus speeds drop sharply after AM Bus speeds drop during AM rush
rush when lane becomes parking even when bus lane is active
Bus lane clear along Central Park Bus lane often obstructed by
with no deliveries and few right turn delivery trucks, forcing buses to use
opportunities congested regular traffic lanes

M106 - 5 Av b/t 106 St and 98 St M101 Lexington Av b/t 68 St and 96 St

6 9
Bus lane opens 8 Bus lane opens to

Median Speed (mph)

Median Speed (mph)

5 to standing/ 7 standing/parking
4 parking at 10AM 6 at 10AM with little
5 effect
3 4
2 3
2
1 1
0 0
7:00-8:00 8:00-9:00 9:00-10:00 10:00-11:00 7:00-8:00 8:00-9:00 9:00-10:00 10:00-11:00

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 Strategies Transit Signal Priority

Bus updates NYCDOT with real time GPS NYCDOT communicates with traffic lights
based location as soon as bus enters check- at TSP intersections to affect delayed
in zone near an intersection green or shortened red

TSP in place on 5 corridors across the city

Implementation of TSP planned for M60 and Q44 this Summer

Working with NYCDOT to implement citywide

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Strategies All Door Boarding
Implement All Door Boarding where appropriate
SBS fare strategy has reduced dwell time
Customers pay off board and use all doors
Requires fare enforcement teams, cost - $700k/route
MTA is committed to maintain and expand the SBS program
NFPS with contactless cards faster than MetroCard dipping
Estimated all-door boarding trip time savings:
Two minutes or more on 18 routes
90 seconds to two minutes on an additional 27 routes
Less than 90 seconds on remaining 275 routes
Need more study of:
Technology compatibility with open payment systems
Cost-benefit analysis for routes with few customers per stop

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Next Steps
Continue to implement SBS routes on high volume corridors
Apply SBS features to the local bus network, where appropriate
Redesign and add more bus lanes similar to the SBS model, and make
more effective through better enforcement
Expand use of transit signal priority
Improve bus stop spacing
Off-board fare collection / all-door boarding where appropriate
Work with NYCDOT and other NYC agencies on priority slow corridors
Right-size the bus network
Restructure routes, particularly in congested areas
Re-evaluate service in areas where ridership has declined
Shift resources per guidelines to support growing routes and new
markets

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