As Election Day approaches, the contentious situation of road redesigns — marked by elevated bus and bike lanes and decreased car lanes — stays a key native concern for New Yorkers. With the town’s future transportation panorama hanging within the steadiness, voters are scrutinizing every candidate’s imaginative and prescient for extra environment friendly transportation within the huge metropolis.
“Daylighting is really important and under-reported on for the safety of people who walk with kids and the elderly folks crossing the streets,” one New Yorker named Sam stated. “There are also tons of cars and motorcycles that speed and drive aggressively, some with ghost plates and some without.”
Daylighting is a observe that includes eradicating parking areas close to intersections to extend visibility.
Reckless micromobility-device driving is one other main transit concern for New Yorkers.
“Bikes are out of control on Amsterdam [Avenue],” stated Sherry of the Higher West Facet. “Central Park is dangerous for pedestrians.”
Free buses
Thus far, not one of the candidates have made road redesigns a significant a part of their campaigns. However the frontrunner within the race, Queens Meeting Member and Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, has made it clear that one in every of his prime priorities is to make buses free, which he has stated would velocity up bus journey occasions as a result of nobody must pay after they board.
In different phrases, passengers would simply stroll on the bus, utilizing all of the doorways, with out having to dip or faucet their OMNY/MetroCards or telephones to be permitted on board.
“Unlike on the subway, when you pay your fare, you’re doing so on the bus,” Mamdani stated on WNBC lately. “The act of doing so or not doing so, it impedes and impacts the ability of the bus to actually operate.”
Betsy Plum, govt director of the Riders Alliance, speaks throughout a Might 18, 2025, rally for higher bus service on Flatbush Avenue.Picture by Barbara Russo-Lennon
However NYC had tried free buses earlier than – one in every borough – as a part of a pilot program in 2023 for which Mamdani had efficiently secured state funding. The MTA ended this system after solely a 12 months, as fare evasion throughout the entire transit system elevated.
How he intends to make buses free shouldn’t be completely clear, however he has not been shy about wanting to boost taxes on companies and “the wealthiest” New Yorkers.
Mamdani’s income plan will increase the company tax fee to match New Jersey’s 11.5%, bringing in $5 billion, based on his marketing campaign web site. New Yorkers incomes greater than $1 million yearly could be taxed a flat 2%, if he wins the mayoralship. Any tax enhance, nonetheless, would require state legislative approval — which can be a problem on condition that Gov. Kathy Hochul and all state legislators are up for re-election in 2026.
NYC buses are notoriously gradual — they common about 8 mph — making them worthy of consideration from elected officers. Nonetheless, by Native Legislation 195 of 2019, road redesigns have been growing all through the town, aimed toward, amongst different issues, growing bus velocity by the development of 150 miles of protected bus lanes.
Mamdani has not stated if he would proceed to assist road redesigns, together with a specific one which includes a motorbike lane and has been the topic of a lawsuit on thirty first Avenue in Astoria, inside Mamdani’s Meeting district.
Crackdown on reckless e-bike and moped operation; growing subway security
In the meantime, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the unbiased candidate within the trio, has been vocal concerning the prevalence of reckless operation of micromobility gadgets on metropolis streets.
Cuomo described the “out-of-control presence of e-bikes and mopeds on sidewalks and bike lanes” as a quality-of-life crime that bears particular point out.
“Incidents involving e-bikes are becoming increasingly common,” the candidate’s web site states. And he isn’t unsuitable, based on NYPD statistics.
E-bike collisions elevated by 37.1% this 12 months, in comparison with the identical interval in 2024, the police numbers present. The variety of stand-up scooter collisions has additionally elevated barely by 1%, from 902 to 911 12 months thus far, in comparison with 2024.
“In addition to the risks faced by pedestrians, e-bike riders, most of whom are workers making deliveries for the major food delivery apps, are also highly vulnerable,” based on the Cuomo marketing campaign.
He attributes a lot of the e-bike situation to structural issues within the meals supply enterprise.
“Based on the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) regulations, a delivery worker is paid only for the time that they have accepted a trip, and until it is completed in the app,” the marketing campaign web site states. “Therefore, a worker is incentivized to accept trips, and travel longer distances, because it maximizes their time being paid the higher rate.”
A unregistered moped awaiting an NYPD tow.Picture by Barbara Russo-Lennon
Cuomo’s stance is that DCWP minimal fee regulation must be revised to chop incentives that foster harmful driving. He additionally needed to carry supply app corporations financially liable for any damages attributable to riders making deliveries on their behalf.
Like some incumbent officers, akin to Queens Metropolis Council Member Robert Holden, Cuomo would additionally like e-bikes and e-scooters to be registered with the NYC Division of Transportation.
Turning to subway security, Cuomo has stated it’s “essential.” His subway security plan contains an elevated presence of NYPD and MTA officers in stations and on trains, which he has stated will scale back necessary time beyond regulation whereas restoring drive ranges.
Just like Gov. Kathy Hochul, his plan contains updating turnstiles in order that they stop fare evasion. The MTA loses about $1 billion a 12 months in fare and toll evasion inside its transit, bridges, and tunnels techniques.
This time round, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he’s centered on hitting the streets and urgent the flesh.Barry Williams/New York Day by day Information/TNS by way of Reuters
Cuomo can be in favor of increasing the eligibility of the town’s backed Truthful Fares program. Truthful Fares supplies half-priced rides to low-income public transit customers who reside at 145% of the federal poverty degree (FPL). That quantity at this degree in NYC is $22,692 for a single individual or $46,617 for a household of 4.
Cuomo’s plan contains full fare protection on buses and subways for New Yorkers who make as much as 150% of the federal poverty line, which is about $48,225 for a household of 4.
Prioritizing subway security
Curtis Sliwa, the third distinguished candidate within the mayoral race, made subway security a precedence all through his life, not less than since he based the Guardian Angels in 1979.
His plan to sort out the continued problems with subway security and fare evasion contains reinstating the NYPD’s Homeless Outreach Unit, which he stated would assist guarantee security for the homeless and New Yorkers who journey the trains. Nonviolent people could be provided direct assist and protected shelter choices, whereas emotionally disturbed individuals who pose a hazard to themselves or others could be transported to psychiatric care services.
“We will invest in hiring more psychiatric nurses across NYC’s public hospitals and create new incentives to attract skilled mental health workers,” Sliwa, who rides the trains virtually day by day, has stated. “The goal is to protect the vulnerable, restore safety in public spaces, and offer real pathways off the street, with dignity and urgency.”
Mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa, together with his spouse subsequent to him, mentioned subway security with a lady outdoors a prepare station in Manhattan.Picture by Rusat Ramgopal
Whereas Cuomo is concentrated on fashionable turnstiles to fight fare evasion, Sliwa would double down on enforcement and conduct focused enforcement at high-volume switch factors and hotspots.
Sliwa’s web site outlines his subway security plan in additional element.
In assist for outer-borough transit, Sliwa stated he would treatment the issues specific bus riders face, akin to delayed buses and overcrowding.
Throughout an interview with New York News, he questioned whether or not the town’s implementation of bus lanes have helped enhance bus journey occasions.
“We have all these bus lanes that we never had years before,” the Republican nominee stated. “Years before, the bus would have to negotiate its way through vehicular traffic. That’s a reason for delay. But now we have all these special bus lanes, and still [delayed], with no explanations from the MTA. They’re like impervious.”
He stated that if elected, he must conduct extra analysis and seek the advice of with transit specialists to find out if bus lanes are literally efficient.
The three main candidates every have their very own distinctive plans for transit in NYC. Whoever wins the election will undoubtedly contribute to the form of the town’s streetscape and public transit for New Yorkers throughout the town.
