Senator Espaillat Successfully Resurrects Plan for Fast Bus Service

Just three months after New York City's transportation department nixed a plan to bring faster buses to Harlem's 125th Street corridor, which Senator Espaillat has continued to advocate for, the plan has been resurrected.

In a press release to reporters sent late Friday afternoon, the D.O.T. announced that the new service will launch in April 2014, "speeding the commutes of more than 30,000 bus passengers who travel on 125th Street routes daily."

"Using dedicated bus lanes, consolidated stops and allowing passengers to pay before boarding the bus, the streamlined service will improve one of the borough’s most-used local bus routes, reducing congestion and providing faster, more reliable connections throughout Harlem and with LaGuardia Airport," says the release.

Earlier this month, I reported that local leaders were hoping the plan would be resurrected before the end of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's tenure."We still have until late December, right?" State Senator Adriano Espaillat told me at the time. "This is just one more item. And starting it now is probably not a bad thing, particularly before the holiday season, when you have a lot of shoppers who want to buy on what is a very busy commercial artery."

-Dana Rubinstein, Capital NY