Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about TransitCenter

This short bus lane segment on East 97th Street lets M96 bus bypass the bottleneck preceding the traffic light.

Queue Jumps for Buses — The Ethical Way to Cut in Line

By David Meyer | Apr 25, 2017 | 11 Comments

Cutting in line is pretty much unacceptable behavior, but there's one exception to the rule: A bus carrying dozens people should go to the front of the line at traffic lights. That, as TransitCenter explains in a new video, is a "queue jump" - and NYC needs more of them.

The MTA Needs to Measure Service in a Way That People Understand

By David Meyer | Nov 3, 2016 | 7 Comments

What if I told you that in the past year, the 4 train had a weekday “wait assessment” of 70 percent, down 1 percent from the previous year? Unless you’re a dyed in the wool transit geek, your eyes would probably glaze over. But what if I told you that on average, 4 train riders lose […]

How the MTA Can Improve Access-a-Ride Service While Cutting Costs

By David Meyer | Sep 20, 2016 | 25 Comments

For customers, the price of a trip on Access-A-Ride, the MTA’s service for New Yorkers with disabilities, is the same as a subway fare. But for the MTA, the cost of providing the service is much higher. At $72.65 per trip (the cost has risen since 2014, when the figures for the above table were compiled), Access-A-Ride is […]

No, Uber’s Not Going to Replace Buses, But It Can Complement Them

By Angie Schmitt | Sep 9, 2016 | No Comments

Not a day goes by without a raft of stories about “new mobility” providers — ride-hailing companies like Uber or car-share services like Car2Go that have tapped into recent technological advances to provide new ways to get around. In a new report, “Private Mobility, Public Interest” [PDF], TransitCenter deflates some of the hype surrounding these services while laying out […]

It’s Time to Think Big to Turn Around Lousy Bus Service in NYC

By David Meyer | Jul 20, 2016 | 29 Comments

Bus service in New York is getting worse and losing riders, and unless policy makers step in and make systemwide improvements, those trends may accelerate in a vicious cycle. New York can turn things around, advocates say, with a suite of policies to get buses moving quickly and reliably again. Today a coalition of transit advocates unveiled […]

The “Choice” vs. “Captive” Transit Rider Dichotomy Is All Wrong

By Angie Schmitt | Jul 12, 2016 | No Comments

The conventional wisdom about transit often divides riders into two neat categories: “choice” riders — higher-income people with cars — and “captive” riders — lower-income people who must use transit because they don’t own cars. But this framework can undermine good transit, according to a new report from TransitCenter [PDF]. In the attempt to cater only to “choice” riders or “captive” […]