Skip to Content
Streetsblog California home
Streetsblog California home
Log In
Bus-only lanes

Another Benefit of Bus-Only Lanes and Car-Free Streets: Safety

The car-free 14th Street Busway is a real lifesaver. No, literally.

The benefits of the city's transit-priority pilot program between Third and Ninth avenues in Manhattan are well documented: buses are moving much faster and ridership is up as a result of the improved service.

But the project is having a much greater, and much-less-heralded, safety impact.

In the four months since the busway began in October, total crashes are down 53 percent and injuries are down 63 percent compared to the same four-month period a year earlier. Crashes that resulted in injuries are down 68 percent.

busway before and after
Source: Crashmapper
false

Here are the raw numbers:

    • Total crashes
      • Oct. 2018-Jan. 2019: 90
      • Oct. 2019-Jan. 2020: 42 (a decrease of 53 percent)
    • Total crashes with injuries
      • Oct. 2018-Jan. 2019: 27
      • Oct. 2019-Jan. 2020: 10 (a decrease of 63 percent)
    • Total injuries
      • Oct. 2018-Jan. 2019: 35 (seven cyclists, eight pedestrians, 20 motorists)
      • Oct. 2019-Jan. 2020: 11 (three cyclists, seven pedestrians, one motorist, a total decrease of 68 percent)

It doesn't take a rocket scientist — or a mayor! — to see what's going on: Removing cars has enhanced safety for all road users. Street safety advocates have been calling for more car-free zones for years (and Mayor de Blasio has largely ignored them), so no one was surprised by Streetsblog's back-of-the-envelope calculations.

"Let's hope [the reduced crashes on 14th Street] is a herald of a similar benefit we will see from congestion pricing and pedestrian zones and busways in the city's future," said Jon Orcutt, a former Department of Transportation official who now is advocacy director for Bike New York. "That said, moving the safety needle citywide means more aggressive traffic calming for the really car-oriented streets like Atlantic Avenue, Northern Boulevard, Third Avenue (in both Brooklyn and the Bronx) and on and on. It's a long list."

Few, if any, of the most congested and dangerous stretches of roadway are being considered for busway treatment. The mayor said last year that he hoped to create new car-free busways in 2020, though he declined to specify where. Here are just two examples of dangerous roadways that could be remedied:

    • Northern Boulevard between Queensboro Plaza and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway
      • Total crashes Oct. 2018-Jan. 2019: 163, injuring 39 people
      • Total crashes Oct. 2019-Jan. 2020: 144, injuring 36 people
    • Fordham Road between Jerome Avenue and Southern Boulevard
      • Total crashes Oct. 2018-Jan. 2019: 133, injuring 42 people
      • Total crashes Oct. 2019-Jan. 2020: 102, injuring 32 people

Also worth noting: The seven-block stretch of the Fulton Mall in Downtown Brooklyn — a car-free transitway for decades — had just 43 total crashes in all of 2019, injuring 13 people. In the four months between October, 2019 and January, 2020, there were just 16 crashes, injuring four people.

“There’s no question that more cars equals more crashes, so it’s no surprise that streets where people and transit are prioritized over traffic aren’t just more efficient and more pleasant; they’re also much safer,” said Transportation Alternatives spokesman Joe Cutrufo.

The clear safety benefit of car-free roadways prompted Streetsblog to ask City Hall a few questions (albeit on Presidents Day):

    • What does City Hall think about these numbers?
    • Will City Hall give a timeline for an expansion of the busway model to other transit strips?
    • Since the evidence is clear — car-free streets are much safer — will the mayor commit to making more roadways off limits to cars? If so, when? If no, why not?

We will update this story if we hear back.

Update: An earlier version of this story had some bad math. Correct numbers but bad percentages. Sorry about that. Math!

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog California

Thursday’s Headlines

California's baseball teams return to the field and make an appearance in our news roundup.

March 27, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines

Updates on stories we covered over the past week on quick build, speed cameras, VTA strike and more...

March 26, 2025

Survey: Americans Still Want Police To Cut Traffic Stops That Don’t Make Anyone Safer

Americans never lost their appetite for police reform in the traffic safety realm – and their leaders are starting to listen, a new study suggests.

March 25, 2025

Volunteers Repaint and Repair Mural as Progress Continues on Converting Great Highway

Advocate/volunteers erase graffiti as the project to remake San Francisco's oceanfront moves steadily forward.

March 25, 2025

Is the City’s Approach to Measure HLA Resulting in Worse Pavement Conditions on Some Streets?

The city says "Measure HLA has not affected overall citywide [pavement condition]" but some streets - ones the city put repaving on hold for HLA - seem to have a lot of potholes.

March 25, 2025
See all posts