Dedicated bus lanes recently opened on 34th Street (the Transitway's forerunners) and they've already created real problems for people who live, work and run businesses along the route.

(If you have comments about the Transitway or the existing 34th Street's bus lanes, please send them to us!)

Here's what people say:

"Once again, the lack of an integrated vision by city "planners" is evident. As a physician, it is bad medicine to simply treat symptoms; as city planners, it is a bad solution to simply treat symptoms. Solving the automobile congestion in midtown is the issue; adding more buses [while reducing the number of lanes for non-MTA vehicular traffic] to an already congested automobile traffic system is short-sighted. Solutions for mid-town citizens-without-cars, i.e. buses, cannot happen unless there is a simultaneous solution for limiting the congestion caused by single-occupied vehicles. Removing pedestrian friendly trees which make mid-town more habitable in the service of expediting traffic flow speaks of the lack of understanding as to what is really necessary for making an urban area conducive for human habitation. How much cross-town time will be saved and will those few extra minutes be worth the loss in the quality of life that this proposal will undermine?"

"Although I don't live in your area, I share your pain on this... Just like the plazas at Times and Herald Squares, there haven't even been any studies about the surrounding streets and how they would be affected by this. Instead, [the plazas] were just placed there, and it turned out traffic on the nearby streets was worse... I would like see some tests done with 34th Street to see how the traffic between the Queens-Midtown and Lincoln Tunnels would be affected before actually doing this... I am glad that I signed the petition, and you have my support for your cause."

"Every morning I see firsthand what slows down travel time: long lines of passengers boarding buses, many try several Metrocards before paying the fare, passengers who refuse to step to the rear and exit through the front doors...these issues will not be fixed by this plan!

Occasionally, there is a turning car, a garbage or postal truck stopped in the lane, but buses seem to maneuver around them with ease.

Changing the traffic direction and building the partition is a WASTE OF NYC RESOURCES. Two lanes will be lost during nights and non-rush hours, since regular traffic cannot access them. These lanes will sit unused for long periods during the day. Since additional bus service will not be provided, passengers will still have long waits, no matter how fast they travel across town.

You can speed up bus travel by making smaller, inexpensive and less disruptive changes. Use the double-attached bus like they have on 14th and 86th Streets to prevent overcrowding during rush hours. Let bus Metrocard machines show amount remaining on a card instead of amount paid, so that people will know when their card is empty. Allow passengers to pay at a kiosk outside the bus and show a ticket to the driver at boarding. Install shelters showing next bus due times at all stops so passengers will have an idea how long their wait will be and can choose to walk.

Before you reinvent the wheel with total disregard for the consequences, why not try making some positive improvements first?"

"I was present for the CB6 Land Use Committee meeting when the presentation was first made. It was a bad idea then, with eloquent residents speaking out against it and the entire audience opposed. And it is a bad idea now. I am so heartened to see your wonderful website and clear statements on consequences, anything more I can do beyond the letters I have already written, let me know."

"This action will have a negative effect...by making access to the area more difficult than it already is."

"Maybe it's me, but all of the "pedestrian malls", new bike lanes passing so close to parked cars in speeding traffic so that someone will likely be killed very soon, no left turns "anywhere!"... What is the real goal of all of this? Traffic on and around 34th street has never been worse. Now DOT presents us with their "good" idea to mess it up even more!"

"I wholly support your efforts! 34th Street is already impossible to cross with the Midtown Tunnel traffic causing 24/7 gridlock. This "plan" would be a total disaster!

I attended the Sept. 23rd Town Hall Meeting and was blown away by the number of people...and the clear, informative presentations and the very relevant questions. I'd never been to a rent increase meeting but I assume the vociferous nature was similar. I don't think I saw anyone else from my building so I am going to ask my Super if I can post the fact sheet and petition in our mailroom. I wish there had been similar meetings before the M-1 debacle and, especially, the M-104 changes. I, for one, was a total theatre junkie, but even I will not walk crosstown on a 90+ degree day. Doesn't the DOT & MTA ever think of the aftermath of their decisions? Thanks so much for all your efforts and please keep me informed especially if I can be of service."

"This transitway is a horrible idea. I have 2 small children and am worried about their safety. How is anyone going to be able to drop off their children and suitcases/bags in front of the building when we can't even access it? In addition, how are emergency vehicles going to access the building in case of an emergency? Last but not least, how are the services such as large deliveries and trash pick-ups going to be able to access the building? This is a horrible idea for those of us that live on 34th Street and it is not going to make the traffic situation any better. In fact it will be worse because the traffic will be redirected to smaller streets not wide enough to handle the traffic load! P.S. The list of our representatives was most welcome." 

"You need to go no further than Broadway between 34th and 42nd Streets to see the impact of the mall idea. Scores of homeless take up residence there every night. Their presence and the resulting trash keep away shoppers and tourists alike until private security guards roust them up and out."

"The traffic in this neighborhood around rush hours is already horrendous....stop the madness!"

"I think the bus plan is a terrible idea. It is going to block the front of my building. I take the cross-town bus every day and it is fast enough. This is unnecessary."

"I live on 35th Street. Because of the new Muni-Parking meters, cars can now park on both sides of the street, leaving only one lane for traffic. When cars and trucks are diverted from 34th Street because of the Transitway, the traffic jams will be impossible!"

" [My building on 34th Street is] in dire need of boiler repair. The truck has come twice and has been forced [by the police] to leave twice because of the bus lane. We were told that a permit was needed, except a call to DOT resulted in us being told that no such permit exists. If it is this way now, what happens when 34th Street is a divided Transitway?"

"My apartment faces 35th Street so I get lots of noise and fumes from trucks coming from the Midtown Tunnel. The Transitway will only make things worse because traffic will be diverted from 34th Street."

"Requiring our building staff to work over-time to accommodate night-time deliveries and services [because of the Transitway] complicates our union contract. Also, it will substantially increase our costs, requiring us to raise our maintenance fees with the result that our apartments' values will go down."

"My building’s service entrance is already obstructed because of the bus lane on 34th Street. Now deliveries have to go through our lobby's entrance instead of the service entrance, blocking the sidewalk as well as pedestrian movement on Park Avenue. How does that encourage ‘walkability’ or improve the quality of life?"

"I asked a member of our co-op board if they would permit after-hours move in or out due to the Transitway's blocking our service entrance. The response was, 'What? Are you kidding?' "

"The Transitway poses real safety problems. There was a car fire on 34th Street the other day. Fire trucks, police cars and emergency vehicles had to use four traffic lanes to deal with the situation. How would they have handled the fire if they were blocked by the Transitway's concrete barriers? Say there’s a bus break down on the Transitway in front of my building and there’s a fire. How do fire trucks get access to my building? And what happens if the Transitway is blocked and one of my neighbors needs and ambulance?"

"Buses often break down in the 34th-Street bus lanes. That means a long line of buses have to drive around them very slowly using the regular traffic lanes. Think of what will happen if there's a break down on the Transitway that forces oncoming buses to face each other on a single lane. A big bottle neck, that’s what!"

"I've lived in my apartment overlooking the north side of 34th Street for a decade. Ever since the dedicated bus lane opened next to my building, my walls and windows rattle and shake because of the buses passing below. They never did before! If it's bad now, what will it be like when two lanes are under my windows? And how bad will it be when they open a new bus station right below?"

"Already the… bus lanes on [34th Street] have forced heavy bus and truck traffic onto residential streets, chewing instep-deep potholes into the pavement of 35th Street on my block between Madison and Park Avenues, and others, too."

"I am pregnant and was being dropped off with a lot of packages; because of the bus lane, I had to be dropped off on 3rd Avenue. I am not allowed to carry heavy objects, and it was very inconvenient to take the cart to the corner and then push it uphill to the building entrance. I don't appreciate having to put my health in danger because of this bus lane.

I know if the 34th St. Transitway is implemented, my baby and I will have a very hard time being dropped off by car/taxi, receiving packages, and getting into a car if we have to go to 3rd Ave, especially in bath weather.”

"There’s a restaurant on the 34th-Street side of my building where a lot of elderly people go. It’ll be blocked by the Transitway. That threatens their business and our co-op’s ground-floor retail income. We’re already raising maintenance fees every year because of real-estate tax increases. The Transitway will only make things worse."

"My mother is 94 years old. She is dependent totally on Access A Ride for transportation and most importantly, doctor's appointments, which are rather frequent. She would not be able to walk to the corner and wait, and if I didn't manage to get her to the corner if it is raining, cold or severely hot, she would not be able to go out at all."

"There are a number of elderly people living in my building needing ambulatory care. They use Access-a-Ride vans that get tickets when they stop in the designated bus lane in front of our building’s only entrance on 34th Street."

"My elderly father recently stayed with us while having medical treatments nearby. What happens when the Transitway blocks our building's only entrance? I guess they expect him to walk hundreds of feet from the corner!"

"I have lived in this building & neighborhood for 30+ plus years and have enjoyed every minute until, as a working professional who travels at least 22 times per year with multiple bags, the traffic pattern/bus lane came into effect. Now I have to be picked up and dropped off during business hours on the corner of Third Avenue, chasing cabs, chasing my bags, running back & forth. I am not disabled, but I am getting on in years. Traffic flow is important but building residents must be taken into account. [The Transitway] proposal just further pushes our Manhattan closer and closer to being Disneyland instead of taking into account the needs of working taxpayers."

"Last March, coming back from an overseas trip, I had to be dropped off at the corner of Third and 34th. The cab was double parked while I got my two cases, in the rain. My choices were to bring one case in at a time and use my umbrella, but it meant leaving one case unattended at the corner, or bringing both cases and get soaking wet, which I did. I hate to think how I would have managed in the snow."

"My husband was a passionate volunteer at CityMeals-on-Wheels, who is remembered for his remarkable commitment to the homebound elderly. He was also a passionate volunteer to Lighthouse International in the reading services program. When his terminal illness no longer permitted him to travel to and from his medical treatments without car service/taxi, his legacy of kindness was quickly overlooked and forgotten by our city. As his caregiver, what difficulty and frustration I experienced every time it was necessary for us to get to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Car Service drivers/taxi drivers were hesitant about picking up and dropping off at our building’s entrance.

I was always having words with the police officer who would try to prevent us from getting in or getting out of the car with a walker, a wheelchair and a very frail human being should have been clue enough that my husband was disabled. My concern was to get my husband in and out of a car safely. This should have been the concern of the police officer also.

We do not need to experience any additional inconveniences at our building entrance. Please do not create any further complications with one way traffic and a pedestrian mall on 34th Street.”

"Cab drivers routinely refuse to drop us off in front of the building [because of the bus lane], and it is now very difficult to have car service from the building due to traffic restrictions. We recently had a deliveryman's vehicle towed as he was trying to deliver an appliance to our apartment, resulting in high cost and delays."

"Snowy day, two seniors going to JFK with heavy luggage. Could not (legally) get a cab to stop in front of our building. Had to walk (precariously) on the icy sidewalk to Third Ave. Our building with 320 units houses elderly, infirm, disabled and people with small children who need pick-up and drop-off at the entrance."

"What happens to the ambulances? I am 81 years old and if I need their help, how will they be able to park in front of my building? Taxis will be impossible to get, and I do need them."

"Please explain to me how spending [millions of] federal dollars to allegedly speed the pace of buses for 17,000 passengers is a good way to spend money? I live on 34th Street and take the bus several times a week during all hours of the day. It is not slow! In fact it is very fast! Plus, I am certain that these 17,000 people are principally the people who actually live on the street and who are uniformly opposed to this plan.

It is already impossible to get access to my front door for day-to-day purposes, cab drop off, etc.., let alone for deliveries! And that is just in the summer time. Apparently the residents and tax payers of 34th Street are supposed to lose access to their front doors? What about handicapped people, elderly, people in the rain, in the winter? Are the drivers who will certainly be "slowed" by this absurd idea even considered? How many of them are there? What about all the cars driven to neighboring streets?"

"Traffic flow is important but building residents must be taken into account. This new proposal for one-way traffic just further pushes our Manhattan to being closer & closer to Disneyland -- instead of taking into account the needs of your working taxpayers."

"What the people behind the 34th Street Transitway fail to acknowledge is that, unlike 42nd Street, 34th Street is a residential street. It is wrong to deny residents access to their buildings from the street, which is what these plans will do.

Living on the north side of the street east of 5th Avenue, residents will not be able to be dropped off in front of their building. There will be no access to unload cars after weekend excursions, large grocery trips or visits to IKEA, for example. While this seems like a small inconvenience, it can affect many people's lives.

I am especially concerned for my elderly and disabled neighbors who will not be able to be picked up or left in front of their door. Should they be dropped across the street and forced to cross alone, managing both a walker and an umbrella?

And if drop-offs are shifted to the avenues, for example, around the corner of Third Avenue, is the city willing to makes these areas "no parking" - for drop-off only? Where will moving vans and delivery trucks park? When I hire movers, will my furniture and fragile boxes need to be carried from three blocks away? Will I be charged exorbitant fees for deliveries to my address?

I am most concerned about access for ambulances and fire trucks to these buildings. How will they be able to park in front of a [Transitway-adjacent] building in the event of a fire or other emergency? If they stop [on the other side of the street], traffic jams will be intensified as cars will have trouble passing.

If an ambulance needs to get across 34th Street from NYU Medical Center, how will it be able to travel west? Taking a side street could cause extensive delays, putting lives at risk. And traveling east would pose other problems since cars in the south lanes would have no way to move over, since the street would be much narrower with a wall of bus stops in the middle of the road."

”This multi-million dollar project will not give us the return on investment that we are looking for and could cause more damage than good.”