London's double-decker buses drafted in to solve New York's gridlock crisis

Double-decker buses have appeared in New York
Photograph: Courtesy MTA
Daniel Bates25 April 2018

They have been a fixture of transport in London for a century, but only now is New York turning to double-decker buses to solve its transit crisis.

City officials said they would be trialling double-deckers on express lines to and from Staten Island in the hope they would ease congestion. If the plan is a success it will be rolled out across the city, but it will be a real back-to-the-future moment for the man behind it.

The programme was drawn up by Andy Byford, the former London Underground station manager turned transit czar who has been hired to fix New York’s transport woes.

He is the new head of New York City Transit Authority, arguably the toughest job in city transport, and appears to be taking inspiration from London’s iconic red buses.

TTC head Andy Byford is using London's transport network as inspiration for work in New York
Toronto Star via Getty Images

New York’s version will be a blue double-decker with a yellow stripe down the side and “I ♥ NY” on it. It will be electric, as London’s have been for two years.

Under Mr Byford’s plan riders will be able to buy tickets before they board from machines and download an app that tells them if there’s a seat available on the bus.

There will be new bus lanes, priority to buses at traffic lights and countdown clocks at bus stops for when the next one arrives.

Mr Byford said he wanted to “completely overhaul” the bus network and change how the city sees them: “If we don’t do anything, this city will achieve complete gridlock, it will grind to a halt. So we need to give buses a super-efficient way of getting about, a fighting chance of getting through the traffic.”

Bus ridership in New York City has dropped about 14 per cent since 2007 due to lack of investment across the whole transit system.

Last summer New York governor Andrew Cuomo declared a transport state of emergency, and announced a big increase in funding.

The Straphangers campaign group called the bus plan “one of the biggest wins for our city’s 2.5 million daily bus riders in more than half a century”.

Omar Vera, a transit enthusiast and regular attendee at transit board meetings, said Mr Byford was “amazing”.

Mr Byford said that he would be looking to London for inspiration about how to fix New York’s transportation.

He may also look to his own past: his grandfather drove a London bus out of Loughton garage in Essex for 40 years, including through the Blitz.

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