Cars All but Banned on One of Manhattan’s Busiest Streets
By Winnie Hu and Andrea SalcedoOct. 3, 2019
Buses cruised along without getting trapped behind cars.
Thousands of riders used to being late to work or for appointments were suddenly early.
On Thursday, New York City transformed one of its most congested streets into a “busway” that delighted long frustrated bus riders and transit advocates but left many drivers and local businesses fuming that the city had gone too far.
Passenger cars, including taxis and Ubers, were all but banned from 14th Street, a major crosstown route for 21,000 vehicles a day that links the East and West Sides of Manhattan.
It was New York’s most ambitious stand yet against cars since the first pedestrian plazas were carved out of asphalt more than a decade ago.
Roads that were once the exclusive domain of cars have been squeezed to make way for bike and bus-only lanes. Prime parking spots have been turned into urban green spaces. Traffic lights give pedestrians a head start crossing intersections.
And making a vital artery nearly off limits to cars could be the beginning of a new wave of sweeping moves.
The 14th Street busway got off to a soggy start at 6 a.m. with traffic officers stationed at intersections to wave buses through while turning cars away. Patrol cars crawled up and down.
Though traffic was noticeably lighter on 14th Street, it soon piled up on some side streets, where cars and other vehicles were inching along. Drivers appeared to follow the new rules, though some seemed caught off guard.
“I’m so confused now with these regulations,” said Thomas McDarby, 74, a hair dresser, as he got into his sedan at a parking garage on 14th Street where he pays $550 a month. “It just happened very quickly. It’s just a hassle. There was no way to plan ahead. Plan ahead and do what, sell the car?”
But bus riders were already enjoying quicker commutes with cars largely cleared out of the way.
“Buses are moving a lot faster,” said Steven Colon, 25, a customer assistant at a grocery store, who commutes to work by bus along 14th Street. “This is a good idea because a lot of people double park and it causes a lot of congestion.”
From now on, drivers are allowed onto 14th Street only to make deliveries and pick up and drop off passengers from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. They can travel just a block or two before they have to turn right off the street. No left turns are allowed. The police will give out warnings at first and surveillance cameras will be watching.
The new rules made for a remarkable scene: a major Manhattan street devoid of cars looking more like a lonely rural stretch.
“It’s not that cars are losing ground, it’s that New Yorkers are gaining ground, literally,” said Danny Pearlstein, a spokesman for the Riders Alliance, an advocacy group for transit riders. “We make the city what it is. Cars get in the way."
City transportation officials said it would take time for people to get used to the new traffic rules, and noted that on rainy days, traffic usually slowed anyway.
“It’s Day 1,” said Polly Trottenberg, the city’s transportation commissioner. “We ask for everyone’s patience.”
City officials had prepared for the busway by holding neighborhood meetings, working with local elected officials and community boards, and reaching out to navigational apps such as Waze to keep drivers away from 14th Street. In recent days, they also went door to door on 14th Street handing out fliers, made press announcements and took to social media to remind everyone about the new car restrictions.
Officials said they would be studying traffic counts and vehicle speeds for 14th street and surrounding streets, but that data was not available on the first day.
The city’s campaign to make its streets less welcoming to cars has drawn an increasingly intense backlash from drivers, businesses and residents who have gone to court to stop some of the efforts, including the new rules along 14th Street.
“It’s a big inconvenience,” said Richard Small, a New Jersey commuter who will now have to drive five blocks out of his way to get to work on 14th Street. “I think it’s extreme and there should be a compromise. Everybody pays taxes — not just the people in the buses.”
New York’s traffic experiment comes as cities across the world are taking a harder line against cars. Cars are no longer being allowed to roam freely as traffic chokes streets, contributes to climate change and threatens the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists.
Paris has banned cars from the city center one Sunday a month. Barcelona has reorganized some streets into superblocks where intersections now serve as playgrounds and cars are pushed to the edges. London charges drivers a hefty congestion fee for entering the busiest neighborhoods — a move that New York will follow when it becomes the first American city to introduce congestion pricing in Manhattan in 2021.
Toronto was the model for New York’s 14th Street experiment. In 2017, it restricted cars from driving across a 1.6-mile stretch of King Street to clear the way for streetcars. Since then, streetcar speeds have increased and service has become more reliable, though some restaurants and stores have lost business.
New York, which has 6,000 miles of streets, once catered to cars by building a network of roadways that still cuts through the city. But that car-centric view later shifted as the city struggled with worsening gridlock that has crippled its public bus system, whose ridership is in decline.
Today, pedestrians and cyclists elbow for more space alongside cars. Ride-hailing apps have ushered in Ubers and Lyfts and Amazon has helped fuel a 24/7 armada of delivery trucks.
The 14th Street busway is the centerpiece of the city’s efforts to turn a one-mile stretch of the street, between Third and Ninth Avenues, into a transit corridor that will improve bus reliability and perhaps attract more riders.
Bus speeds along 14th Street are among the slowest in the nation, crawling at an average of 4.5 miles per hour. Daily bus ridership along the street has fallen to 28,000 from 38,000 in the past decade.
“New York City is failing bus riders on a daily basis and we are hemorrhaging riders as a result,” said Corey Johnson, the City Council speaker whose district includes 14th Street. “People are getting off buses and into cars, which is unacceptable as we try to fight climate change by encouraging green modes of transportation.”
Juliana Santos, 42, a medical assistant, said she would have more time — and less stress — if the buses moved faster and did not get stuck behind cars. A seven- to eight-minute crosstown bus ride can easily stretch to twice that, or longer. “If you don’t get those delays, you’d be on time anywhere you go,” she said.
The 14th Street busway had been twice delayed by lawsuits brought by local residents and block associations, but was allowed to go forward last week after a panel of judges lifted a previous order blocking it.
The busway grew out of the contingency planning for the shutdown of the L train, which travels between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Although transit officials called off the shutdown in January, the plans for the busway remained.
Now, the restrictions are part of an 18-month pilot program that could be made permanent. Curbside parking spots have been eliminated and replaced by loading zones. After the initial warnings, drivers who ignore the restrictions will receive tickets carrying fines starting at $50.
Along 14th Street, lanes have been painted red and designated for buses and trucks only. Trucks and emergency vehicles will still be allowed across.
Some local businesses and workers have opposed the traffic experiment, saying that they could lose customers who drive. “It’s not good for business,” said Francisco Lopez, an attendant at a garage on 14th Street. “Everybody’s complaining about it.”
Salvatore Vitale, the owner of Joe’s Pizza on 14th Street, said the restrictions would make it harder for his restaurant to make deliveries, and for customers who took taxis.
“It slows down my operation,” Mr. Salvatore, 34, said, adding that it took him an extra 15 minutes just to drive to the restaurant on Thursday morning. “It’s horrible for me and my business because it stops customers from coming.”
Larry Yakubov, the manager of Barber Buddy barbershop on 14th Street, did see an upside. “Hopefully, it will boost our business because we expect to get more foot traffic,” he said.
Others were elated the busway had finally arrived.
Ben Rubenstein, 37, an assistant high school principal, allows extra time in his morning commute for delays. “I usually wake up earlier so that I can avoid traffic on the cross town bus,” he said.
Not anymore. On Thursday, Mr. Rubenstein got to school early.
“Ten minutes faster than I expected,” he said.
