MTA fully implements Queens bus network redesign

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced the full implementation of the Queens bus network redesign, the agency noting it’s the largest bus redesign in the country and one of the most comprehensive service changes in MTA history. The second and last phase began Sunday, Aug. 31, and Sept. 2 marks the full implementation of the redesign. The first phase, with nearly two thirds of the changes, launched on June 29.

“With both phases of the redesign now in effect, MTA’s transformation of the Queens bus network—adding $34 million for new service — is now complete from Arverne all the way to Astoria,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. “That means faster buses, greater reliability and increased access to jobs, education and shopping for the city’s most bus reliant borough, home to 800,000 daily riders, as many as the entire Los Angeles bus system.”

The MTA says it will analyze changes in bus speeds, ridership, reliability, travel times, rider satisfaction and other relevant variables over six months beginning in October, and present a post-implementation analysis in the spring of 2026. The results of this analysis will inform future adjustments to the bus network to ensure that service is aligned with stated goals.

The agency says the overhaul of the 70-year-old Queens bus network is shaped by six years of planning and community feedback consisting of 300 redesign events and nearly 20,000 comments. The MTA further notes these changes expand accessibility, improve transit equity and deliver better bus service with faster trips, more frequent service and better connections to key destinations and the rest of the transit system. The new bus network includes 124 routes, consisting of 94 local and 30 express routes, a net increase of 11 routes from the existing network and a $33.7 million annual investment to operations.

“This transformation modernizes the Queens bus network by providing a better foundation to keep improving bus service and we’re thrilled to reach this milestone,” said New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow. “The redesign is shaped by years of community feedback and analysis to implement a network that balances operational needs and public input to speed up buses and improve reliability. We’ll closely monitor the results of the new network to ensure it is achieving the intended goals.”

The MTA says the redesign focuses on four customer priorities: reliable service, faster service, better connections and simplified service. The new bus network adds a new type of route, labeled rush, in addition to the existing local, limited, Select Bus Service and express routes. Designed to get riders to their destination more quickly, rush routes have both a local and a non-stop portion to quickly connect between outer borough neighborhoods and subway stations.

The agency says that to ensure a smooth transition to the redesigned network and as a courtesy to customers, bus operators with trips along modified routes will continue to board and alight customers at former bus stops in the first week if the bus stop signage or infrastructure has not yet been removed.

Second free bus transfer pilot

Queens bus riders who tap to pay using the same device or card will get a second free bus transfer on every trip. The first transfer must be within two hours of the first tap and the second transfer must be within three hours. This pilot of an additional free transfer began on June 29 with the launch of the first phase and will run for at least six months while evaluating the new Queens bus network.

Equity-informed approach

In Queens, where the agency says residents are more likely to face longer commutes and have limited access to subway and rail compared to other boroughs, the bus network plays an important role, especially for historically marginalized communities. The MTA notes it extensively studied demographic characteristics and equity areas of concentrated need to learn about how transit can better meet riders’ needs. This led to the development of the final plan that invests in service in areas with greater need, and as a result, 23% of trips in equity areas are estimated to be five or more minutes shorter, compared to the average of 8% in other areas.

Beyond the Title VI requirements, the project team published an equity evaluation which shares the data behind socioeconomic factors and framework used to inform the development of the new bus network.

Upon implementation of both phases, the agency says Queens bus riders, on average, will gain access to 5,696 more jobs within 45 minutes — a 3.8% increase and 31% of riders will see a 10% or greater improvement in job access — over 17,000 more opportunities.

MTA bus network modernization

The Queens bus network redesign is part of major effort to modernize New York City’s bus network across every borough. Over decades, demographics have shifted in residential and business communities and so have travel patterns. The agency says the redesigned networks deliver the larger-scale improvements needed to better meet the demand of current and future bus customers.

In 2018, a redesigned express bus network was implemented on Staten Island. In 2022, a redesigned local bus network was implemented in the Bronx. In Brooklyn, the agency says the project team is reviewing feedback from the Brooklyn bus network redesign’s draft plan released in December of 2022 to develop the proposed final plan. Manhattan will be the last of the boroughs to begin its bus network redesign, to be followed by the Staten Island Local and Bronx Express bus network redesigns at a later date.