When 14th Street in Manhattan became a busway, not only did bus service get much faster and more reliable – horrific crashes that kill and injure New Yorkers declined by more than two-thirds. Safer streets are one of the major benefits of projects that improve bus service.
As a Bronx resident, as someone who relies on both a mobility scooter and public transit to get around, and as someone who was hit and injured by a car, the Fordham Road busway is something that I care deeply about.
That fact is Bronx residents rely more on buses per capita than New Yorkers in any other borough. And unlike Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, we still don’t have a busway. Mayor Adams should turn Fordham Road into a busway to improve bus service and enhance traffic safety with one simple fix.
With 85,000 daily riders, Fordham Road is the second busiest bus route in the city. For four years, transportation planners at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New York City Department of Transportation have worked to craft a proposal for better service.
During that planning process, roughly 1,000 vehicles have crashed on Fordham Road, injuring hundreds of pedestrians, bicyclists and people in cars. In 2021, a hit-and-run driver, who was speeding at the time, killed Murielle Gousse, a 44-year old resident of Belmont, right where the proposed busway would start at Morris Avenue.
Bus improvements can help prevent future serious injuries and deaths by making reckless driving much harder to perpetrate. They also improve our health by absorbing truck traffic from surrounding streets, making them safer and reducing idling that contributes to bad air quality. This is also an opportunity to better educate the driving public on the responsibilities they have operating heavy machinery among so many vulnerable people. Previous busways were launched with major education components, and that should happen in the Bronx as well.
This year, bus riders, pedestrians and cyclists still have a shot at winning major bus and safety upgrades to Fordham Road, which would improve public transit service and protect us on some of the Bronx’s most crowded streets and sidewalks. We strongly urge Mayor Adams and all elected officials who represent the Bronx to stand up for better buses and safer streets.
Clarita Bailon is a resident of Bathgate, a member of Families for Safe Streets and a serious crash survivor.
For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
