Division Vice Chair Kemp Reveals Why NYC Buses are Slow

FEBRUARY 10 -- “Slow Ride” is an old rock song recorded in 1975. Now it’s also a description used to disparage New York City Bus Operators who are taking the heat for decisions made by Mayor Mike Bloomberg, the MTA, and the DOT – all who have contributed to what the report says are “painfully slow” bus speeds.

A new NYC Independent Budget Office report “blames the slow rides on heavy traffic, too few bus lanes, and inconsistent enforcement of bus lane rules by the DOT.”

New York City Bus Operators know the blame goes a lot deeper.

TA Surface Division Vice Chair Alexander Kemp goes back to 2010 when the stock market crashed and New York City Transit laid off 500 Bus Operators. Those service cuts were never restored.

“New York City Transit used to have 5 minute headways – now they are approximately 15 minutes. And people who are frustrated waiting for service are kept that way by transit supervision, who monitor, adjust, and control on-time performance,” he says. “If a bus is running late, supervision has the ability to speed the bus up to make schedule. But they don’t want to modify or adjust schedules – because this might incur an extra cost -- and people have to wait.”

“There is no shortage of operators who are available for service. NYCT will go on Twitter and say, “your bus is delayed because we’re operating with the resources we have,” but that obscures the reality, which is that we are short on buses. NYC Transit has been forced to put a large order of electric buses on hold because it lacks charging infrastructure.

“The DOT is not doing a good job enforcing priority bus lanes. But the problem goes back further, to Mayor Mike Bloomberg who put in the bike lanes that make it extremely difficult for Bus Operators to go around double parked cars. DOT also won’t address the issue of dollar vans. They zip in front of NYCT buses all the time, blocking lanes.”

Kemp also says Mayor Adams also deserves his share of the blame for slow bus service. His administration has installed just 17% of the number of bus only lanes required by the City’s streets plan according to Streetsblog.

“The MTA keeps eating money and not showing results. The Federal Government gave the MTA $14 billion during COVID. Now congestion pricing money is coming in. Where is it all going? To the MTA’s capital program, leaving the operating budget in the lurch, both in the subways and on the buses.”

Last summer New York City Transit abruptly cut bus service systemwide, refusing to pay overtime. That was a political move, the Union believes, made to make the case for congestion pricing. They did this at the expense of our operators and of bus service for the public. We won that fight in court – but this tells you how the operating budget continues to get the shaft.

“Now Janno Lieber is talking a good game about telling the State legislature that it’s their problem – to deliver sufficient funding for transit. He should know better. Under Andrew Cuomo, the transit operating budget got raided again and again. Gov. Hochul approved a budget which – again – does not do right by our transit riders and workers. Starving the operating budget makes voters angry – but the MTA uses that anger to wrangle more money for the capital program. Do the massive profits made by contractors have anything to do with it?

“It’s as if the lawmakers actually want our transit system to be taken over by private providers – dollar vans – that deliver substandard service.

“The slow ride is because of the bike lanes, lack of DOT enforcement of bus lanes, lack of funding for mechanics to maintain and expand our fleet, and failure to shorten headways and get more buses on the road. TWU says, as we have for years, it’s time for New York State and NYC to get serious about bus service. The people deserve it.”