By: Anthony Price & Juan Balbuena

United States Dept. of Transportation

2009 STIPDG Summer Interns

Urban Mobility Report 2009: Texas

Transportation Institute

Congestion 1982: 19 % - 2007 : 63%

Top 13 congested cities of the United

States

The average driver loses the equivalent of

8 work days due to traffic.

Hours

100

80

60

40

20

0

1983

2003

City

Congestion is cause of when demand volume exceeds

capacity.

In Manhattan alone, transit ridership has increased by 60%

since 1990 resulting in crowed buses and subway.

The city is currently suffering a heavy subway ridership

along the east side of Manhattan subway lines because of

a lack of available lines and the constant delay of the 2nd

Avenue line.

In 2030 the projected population is expected to increase by

one million people and add an additional 750,000 new jobs

in New York City. Meaning a bigger traffic headache.

1. Do nothing alternative2. Many would call for adding a new lane to an

overburdened highway or street and in New York’s case a subway line under the assumption that this may alleviate the problem. This could possibly prove to be financially unaffordable, and cost tens of millions of dollars to construct.

3. Congestion pricing, which the City of New York has turned down already a few years back.

4. License plate lottery, which is practiced in Columbia and other countries.

5. Implement Bus Rapid Transit.

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a public

transportation system that uses buses to

provide a service that is of a higher speed

that an ordinary bus line.

Goal: Combine the advantages of a metro

system with that of a bus system.

Can include exclusive right of way lanes.

Can take the place of existing roadways.

People of diverse types of financial

backgrounds can take part in its usage

Faster than regular bus service and is

more time oriented.

Traffic signal priority for longer green time

at lights.

Off-bus fare collection.

BRT stations can include staffed ticket

booths and information booths.

NYCT and DOT launched the City's first BRT Phase I route, the Bx12 Select

Bus Service (SBS) on Fordham Road in the Bronx on June 29, 2008.

This route replaced the existing limited-stop service on the Bx12 line, and

added dedicated bus lanes, fewer bus stops, traffic signal prioritization, and

more buses for rapid subway like service.

This resulted in up to a twenty percent time savings, which is the estimated

equivalent of 5 minutes in rush hour traffic and increased by 5,000 riders per

day.

Other lines to be included in Phase I are the First/Second Avenue SBS, 34th

Street Enhanced Bus Priority, Hylan Blvd SBS and Transitway, 34th Street

Phase II, and Nostrand Avenue SBS.

Phase II of the this initiative is expected to expand into different parts of the

city and will attempt to be complete with links to subways, ferries, and major

destinations.

To gain more public awareness of this transit innovation, NYCT and DOT are

offering interactive workshops so that citizens can see the groundwork for

this phase and also give input.

The Queensboro Bridge that connects Queens to

Manhattan uses a lane reversal technique on the two

upper level east bound (M to Q) lanes of the bridge to

make these lanes go the opposite direction (Q to M).

This procedure is important because of the large volume

of people that commute to Manhattan in the morning in

an attempt to reduce the amount of congestion on the

bridge.

Bridge already has two west bound lanes on both the

upper and lower levels, HOV makes this total six.

This technique is enforced from 6 to 10 A.M. and can

only be used with vehicles with 2 or more occupants.

UPPER LEVEL SIGN

DURING NORMAL HOURS

UPPER LEVEL SIGN DURING

HOV HOURS

• Although the bridge does get a large amount of traffic from 6 to 10 A.M., the largest amount of car usage on the bridge comes from privately owned vehicles and taxis.

• The HOV lanes have a fairly small percentage of bus (MTA or school related), usage on it.

By reducing the amount of privately owned vehicles and to reduce traffic we propose to convert the already implemented HOV lanes that are set upon the upper level of the Queensboro Bridge to become strictly of Bus Rapid Transit use and/or usage with vehicles with three or more occupants in it.

Would not be as costly and time consuming to implement upon the of the city as opposed to building a new subway line or creating new lanes upon a roadway.

This push would also cut down on time lost, money lost, and emissions put in the air due to D or worse grade Level of Service upon the bridge.

It would also cut down on the already crowded subways and generate more revenue for MTA so it could renovate or build other structures.

BRT doesn’t require the addition of more roadways

so major road construction wouldn’t be required.

Transform an existing lane into an exclusive BRT

lane.

Purchasing more buses so service would become

more rapid.

Off board ticket purchasing system i.e. a vending

system, internet payment, or a staffed ticket booth.

ITS applications such as VMS signs, camera usage,

and a Traffic Signal Prioritization can also be

effective in making this initiative a success.

Using traffic signal prioritization can be responsible for holding a green signal by several seconds to allow a bus to travel through an intersection without stopping, or expediting the changing of a red signal back to green when a bus is approaching.

The routes of the BRT could replace the bus lines associated with the Queens area particularly the Q60, Q32, and Q101 because these buses utilize the Queensboro Bridge while in service.

Possible internet ad on the MTA website, and in NYC periodicals.

Design a brochure of the advantages of BRT and how accessible it is to citizens.

Pass brochures out at major intersections, bus stops, and subway stations within a 2 mile radius of the QBB on both the Manhattan and Queens side.

Distribution in toll booths and along highways.

SUBWAYS BUS STOPS

In a recent survey of riders who have used and/or frequently use the Fordham SBS, 98% of riders gave a satisfactory or better approval of the new service.

With this type of satisfactory in addition to the time saved in traffic, imagine how well this feature could work on the bridge.

Nothing to lose and so much to gain by trying this system.

S.T.I.P.D.G. Program

The Washington Center

The operators at the TMC in Queens

Mr. Arthur O’Connor

Mr. Rachid Roumilia

Mr. Mohamad Talas

Mr. Sam Mikhail

Mr. Jimmy Haro