Transportation Alternatives: DOT missed bike/bus lane mandates, swifter action needed

The five-year plan aims to improve the safety, accessibility and quality of city streets. The plan pledged to build 50 miles of protected bike lanes and 30 miles of bus lanes in 2024.

Asha McKenzie, Julia Joseph and Adolfo Carrion

Feb 26, 2024, 10:38 PM

Updated 286 days ago

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The city’s Department of Transportation gave New Yorkers some insight last Friday on their latest progress with the NYC Streets Plan, and advocates are demanding more be done to complete the project.
The five-year plan aims to improve the safety, accessibility and quality of city streets. The plan pledged to build 50 miles of protected bike lanes and 30 miles of bus lanes in 2024.
"They didn't meet any of those mandates,” said Alexa Sledge, director of communications for Transportation Alternatives.
According to Sledge, the city built just over five mile of bus lanes and nearly 32 miles of bike lanes.
Sledge says that a physical piece of infrastructure needs to be between bikers and riders for a bike lane to qualify as protected. She says that while some areas, like Cozine Avenue in East New York and Soundview Avenue in Soundview, have completed their protections for bikers, much more work needs to be done.
"The No. 1 thing we can do to protect bike riders is to build more protected bike lanes,” said Sledge, who added that 30 cyclists died in traffic-related incidents in 2023.
The DOT detailed their shortcomings in a recently released update. It stated that Mayor Eric Adams has committed $904 million toward the plan.
According to Transportation Alternatives, the Bronx saw a 40% decrease in pedestrian deaths since 2019.