The days of cars clogging city bus lanes are over, Mayor de Blasio vowed Thursday, announcing seven new NYPD tow teams dedicated to clearing the five boroughs’ public-transit thoroughfares.
“Too often, the buses crawl along when we need them to speed around” for the system’s 2.5 million daily bus riders, said Hizzoner at the department’s Midtown tow pound. “We owe it to them to speed up bus service.”
The tow teams, tasked with patrolling troublesome lanes between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m., are a key part of the city’s bid to boost bus speeds from the current 7.4-mph average by 25 percent by the end of 2020, de Blasio said.
The teams are already cracking down on a dozen lanes, but could be redeployed by the MTA and NYPD as needed.
The extra enforcement is already paying off, with the NYPD logging 352 tows from bus stops and lanes through Jan. 20, a 12.4 percent spike from the same period in 2018.
The news was hailed by state Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan), who has dubbed three particularly pokey lines in his Midtown district, the M50, M23 and M42, as the “Turtle,” “Sloth” and “Slug,” respectively.
“Squirrels can run at a faster pace than these buses,” Hoylman quipped.
Other steps to speed up buses include expanding off-board fare collection, as well as all-door boarding, de Blasio said.