BY KEVIN DUGGAN
The Jay Street busway will
permanently remain on the
busy Downtown Brooklyn thoroughfare
after a year-long pilot,
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced
on Nov. 19.
“Downtown Brooklyn deserves
better bus service, and
the Jay Street busway has already
improved commutes for
thousands of residents, workers,
and students who rely on
it every day,” de Blasio said on
Nov. 19. “It’s time to make it
permanent – and build on this
progress to make public transit
faster, safer, and more reliable
for riders in every borough.”
The city’s Department of
Transportation (DOT) launched
the Jay Street busway in August
2020, banning private car
through-traffi c on the 0.4-mile
stretch from Tillary to Livingston
Streets on weekdays from 7
a.m. to 7 p.m.
Bus speeds in 2021 went up
by as much as 47% compared to
pre-pandemic levels in 2019, but
have started to slow again compared
COURIER L 10 IFE, NOV. 26-DEC. 2, 2021
to a peak 2020, as more
drivers returned to the business
district, according to an
October presentation by DOT
to local neighborhood and business
representatives known
as the community advisory
board.
Bus speeds have declined to
a sluggish average of 7.9 miles
per hour across the Five Boroughs
in October, recent stats
by the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority detailed.
The busway serves some
47,000 straphangers across
seven bus routes operated by
the state-controlled MTA, including
the B26, B54, B57, B61,
B62, B65 and B67.
“We’re transforming Downtown
Brooklyn, getting cars out
of the picture and focusing on
our sustainable transportation
future, transit and cycling,”
said DOT Commissioner Hank
Gutman in a statement.
Jay Street is also a key connector
to the Brooklyn and
Manhattan bridges for cyclists
pedaling across the East River,
which became even more important
when the DOT opened
the new Brooklyn Bridge bike
lane in September.
The amount of vehicle traffi
c that has spilled over onto
surrounding streets has been
“minimal” as a result of the
busway, according to the DOT
presentation.
Local car access is still allowed
but drivers must get onto
Jay Street from side streets and
there are cameras in the busway
to catch scoffl aws.
DOT issued an average of 60
fi nes a day in August, according
to the agency, but the area
remains a hotspot of illegal
parking, including employees
of the many government headquarters
and courts misusing
their offi cial placards to park,
DOT acknowledged in the presentation
last month, saying
“enforcement challenges remain.”
In fact, NYPD leaves at least
Many modes of transit cross Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn, seen here
at Tillary Street. NYC DOT
one squad car parked illegally
in the northbound side of the
red-painted bus lane outside
MetroTech Center so regularly
that it can be seen in DOT’s
own images released as part of
the announcement.
Jay Street was the fi rst new
busway pilot the city installed
as part of fi ve Mayor Bill de Blasio
promised in summer 2020
following the success of the 14th
Street busway in Manhattan a
year prior.
The city’s original busway
— even if it doesn’t have that label
— is just around the corner
on the Fulton Mall, where traffi
c has been limited in favor of
buses since the 1980s, when offi -
cials installed the bus-only corridor
to revitalize the neighborhood
and boost local shopping.
Four out of those pilots hizzoner
promised during the
pandemic have become a reality,
including on 181st Street
in Washington Heights; Main
Street in Flushing, Queens; and
most recently, Jamaica and Archer
avenues in downtown Jamaica,
Queens.
FAST TRACKED
Jay St. busway in D’town becomes permanent
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