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Transportation & Environment

Release of Joint Study of Intercity Curbside Bus Practices

WHEREAS, Manhattan Community Board Four and Manhattan Community Board Five recently completed a “Review of Intercity Curbside Bus Practices;” and

WHEREAS, Studying practices and successes in other cities is a necessary first step to inform a possible New York City rule change as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) is planning and constructing a replacement Intercity Bus Terminal; and

WHEREAS, This document is a summary of curbside intercity bus practices in four major northeastern U.S. cities: New York City, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Boston; and

WHEREAS, Atlantic City, notable because of its particularly unique regulations, is also included; and

WHEREAS, The four major cities discussed make up the largest urban centers within the Northeast Corridor (NEC), which is the most heavily trafficked bus and rail route in the United States; and

WHEREAS, Each city relies upon a different subset of tools to manage their curbside bus stops; and

WHEREAS, In addition to sharing many of the same rules as New York City, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia rely on the practice of corralling buses; and 

WHEREAS, Corralling is a regulatory tool in which a municipality requires, or inversely prohibits, curbside intercity buses to operate in a specific area often around a major transit hub or landmark; and

WHEREAS, Fortuitously, the NY State law currently in force does allow New York City to implement corralling; and

WHEREAS, As the Study notes, “Determining the correct balance between intercity buses, private vehicle

parking, bike lanes, and commercial loading space is very much a negotiation between various stakeholders who all have competing interests;” and

WHEREAS, Manhattan Community Board Four authorized release of the Study and a summarizing letter substantially similar to this resolution at Full Board meeting on May 4, 2022; and

WHEREAS, Manhattan Community Board Five is on record, as November 2016, stating that combination of a rebuilt Intercity Bus Terminal and dramatically improved intercity curbside bus practices by the City must combine to address and improve the current ad hoc paradigm of curbside intercity bus pick-ups and drop-offs spread across the streets of the District; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, Community Board Five authorizes the release of the Study and the following letter to inform the creation of curbside parking policies which will address the District’s traffic and congestion concerns during the 10-year construction of the Intercity Bus Terminal and its operation after completion.

Read Report Here:

https://www.cb5.org/cb5m/resources/for-people-who-live-or-work-in-o/cb5-s-intercity-bus-report/Review-of-Intercity-Curbside-Bus-Practices-CMB-docx.pdf

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