New York City - Transit News

[Busy Bee]

Shocker

[ardecila]

I'm not surprised, Trump has seemingly decided that Penn Station is where he will make his (likely last) mark on NYC. And in that case, he's not wrong that he can probably bully the city/state into paying for it. It's just too important.

Sunnyside Yards is simply too expensive to finance without Federal help, and Trump has gutted the capacity of the government to do anything remotely like that.

[UrbanImpact]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

suckered in by another trump photo op shill by donny boi —



a burst of enthusiasm over sunnyside yard queens project, followed by yawning silence

by willow higgins
published aug 13, 2026


it seemed like a watershed moment in february when mayor zohran mamdani and president donald trump locked hands and eyes in the white house and posed with a mock daily news front page with the headline “trump to city: Let’s build.”

a mamdani aide said at the time that queens-born trump was particularly interested in one project: The long-stalled sunnyside yard development, a $21 billion plan to build a massive platform over a railyard – largely owned by amtrak – and 12,000 housing units. “the president was very enthusiastic about this idea,” mamdani spokesperson joe calvello said.

But what's followed in the months since has not inspired confidence, queens leaders said. The mayor's office has reported scant progress, and the white house has said little publicly to match city hall’s assessment that the president was interested in the idea. City councilmember julie won, who represents the area, said in a statement that she is no longer taking the project seriously, as she hasn’t gotten a single update in months.


More:
https://gothamist.com/news/a-burst-of-en...eens-project-followed-by-yawning-silence

taco!

[dchan]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Busways and bus rapid transit usually comprise of a whole lot of streetscape work including new curbs and curb geometry and often all new sidewalks, including street furnishings, street lighting, info design/wayfinding elements, etc. Often times street rebuilding and streetscape beautification projects coincide with the transit project, even if they wouldn't have occurred otherwise. Rarely full street reconstruction is necessary, but there are examples where a complete street reconstruction is performed since so many elements interfere with it anyway and they take the opportunity to build something that will last decades without having to address major wear and tear.

I wouldn't expect a full street rebuild here, it will be more likely limited to new curbs, bulb outs, some relocated drainage infrastructure and lighting/street furnishings as well as traffic signal upgrades and alterations. And of course I would expect a nice coat of blacktop with colored bus lanes.

If they do grind the street pavement surface down to the old brick surface, I'm eager to catch a glimpse of the old TARS streetcar tracks.

Unfortunately, none of NYC's current and upcoming bus projects should be considered as true bus rapid transit (BRT).

Many of the projects feature new concrete bus boarding islands that are built on the street (rather than creating sidewalk extensions). But whereas BRT has station platforms elevated to the same height as the bus' passenger floor, NYC's bus boarding islands have platforms roughly the same height as a typical sidewalk (maybe a few inches taller at most). That means that instead of the bus pulling into the station and opening the doors, the NYC buses need to lower their floor to match height of the bus stop platform. Raising and lowering the bus each time adds up over time and is hardly considered rapid transit.

In addition, the current OMNY system for Select Bus routes is a catastrophe. There should be card readers at every limited and express stop, just like the Metrocard payment ticket dispensers along Select Bus routes. Riders should not be paying on slow wonky OMNY readers as they board the bus because that defeats the purpose of the Select Bus routes. They should be pre-paying for their ride even before they board the bus.

Many of the recent bus projects are being handled completely internally within DOT, hence why they can be built within the same year as they are announced. A full street reconstruction is more of a DDC capital project and is well outside the scope and ability of DOT to handle internally. Capital projects usually take years to execute from their proposal up until they are substantially completed.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Sunnyside Yards is simply too expensive to finance without Federal help, and Trump has gutted the capacity of the government to do anything remotely like that.

Originally Posted by UrbanImpact

taco!

Ironically the Trump administration just awarded a huge chunk of railroad money (almost $600M) for a vague but enormous, Sunnyside-esque development in Chicago.

Notably the Chicago development is headed up by a billionaire. On the record he has no ties to the president, but he seems to have gotten very lucky in receiving these federal grants…. So maybe that’s the hangup in Queens - no oligarchs stand to profit.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Ironically the Trump administration just awarded a huge chunk of railroad money (almost $600M) for a vague but enormous, Sunnyside-esque development in Chicago.

Notably the Chicago development is headed up by a billionaire. On the record he has no ties to the president, but he seems to have gotten very lucky in receiving these federal grants…. So maybe that’s the hangup in Queens - no oligarchs stand to profit.

per AI --
More than $600 million in federal grants awarded by the Federal Railroad Administration will fund Amtrak’s relocation of its Chicago maintenance facility from the South Loop to a Union Pacific rail yard in Bridgeport. This move clears a 47-acre parcel along the Chicago River, setting the stage for a major mixed-use real estate and mega-development project.

^ i knew this had something to do with union pacific after the ceo ruined the big boy eastern tour experience by hooking up a suckup trump train to it. otoh, looks like his cheap flattery paid off.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by dchan

Unfortunately, none of NYC's current and upcoming bus projects should be considered as true bus rapid transit (BRT).

Many of the projects feature new concrete bus boarding islands that are built on the street (rather than creating sidewalk extensions). But whereas BRT has station platforms elevated to the same height as the bus' passenger floor, NYC's bus boarding islands have platforms roughly the same height as a typical sidewalk (maybe a few inches taller at most). That means that instead of the bus pulling into the station and opening the doors, the NYC buses need to lower their floor to match height of the bus stop platform. Raising and lowering the bus each time adds up over time and is hardly considered rapid transit.

In addition, the current OMNY system for Select Bus routes is a catastrophe. There should be card readers at every limited and express stop, just like the Metrocard payment ticket dispensers along Select Bus routes. Riders should not be paying on slow wonky OMNY readers as they board the bus because that defeats the purpose of the Select Bus routes. They should be pre-paying for their ride even before they board the bus.

Many of the recent bus projects are being handled completely internally within DOT, hence why they can be built within the same year as they are announced. A full street reconstruction is more of a DDC capital project and is well outside the scope and ability of DOT to handle internally. Capital projects usually take years to execute from their proposal up until they are substantially completed.

its true the select busses are brt-lite at best. probably its best to avoid that term altogether and stick to calling them select busses with some bonus dedicated roadway. they do have raised pads now on the 14st busway as kind of a pilot, which works fine imo, so maybe they will do more of that.

as for the omny payment for select busses, mta clearly wants to get rid of paper as much as they can, so no more receipts. its perplexing why you cant just tap while you wait or before you board as the bus approaches. that would need quite a few omny readers installed at bus stops -- a big expense, but maybe they will get to that eventually? or just wait to upgrade the readers on the bus to make them speedier?

tbh in my experience nobody pays on the busses, so that is by far the biggest bus issue.

[mrnyc]

heads up -- this event is always fun to visit --



Historic NYC buses are coming to Brooklyn Bridge Park for free Bus Festival

By Olivia Seaman
Posted on August 11, 2026


Brooklynites will get a chance to step inside some of New York City’s most memorable buses next month when the New York Transit Museum brings its annual Bus Festival to Brooklyn Bridge Park.

The museum, together with MTA New York City Transit, will host the 29th annual event on Sept. 19 at Emily Warren Roebling Plaza. The free festival will run from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., rain or shine.

The event will showcase buses spanning more than a century of New York transportation history, giving visitors a look at how the vehicles that carried generations of New Yorkers have changed over time.

Attendees can board the vintage buses, explore their interiors and exteriors and meet members of the workforce responsible for the city’s transit system.


more:
https://www.brooklynpaper.com/new-york-transit-museums-bus-festival/


Next month, New York Transit Museum will host their annual vintage Bus Festival. Bus 3100 (pictured) will be one of many on display.Photo courtesy of Trent Reeves/New York Transit Museum