DOT adds new 2nd Avenue offset bus lane

This past week, the DOT started adding markings along the freshly paved Second Avenue. 

As previously reported, the new-look Second Avenue would include shifting the curbside bus lane to an offset bus lane to help speed up travel times...

From a DOT press release in June: 

Second Avenue serves the M15 local and SBS route—the city's busiest bus route with 57,000 daily riders. To improve bus service, NYC DOT will be moving the existing curbside bus lane on Second Avenue one lane over — known as an offset bus lane. This redesign will keep the bus lane clear while better accommodating deliveries on the corridor. 

The offset bus lane design will allow NYC DOT to upgrade bus lane operations to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, providing consistent, reliable, and dedicated space for buses to move quicker while reducing bus lane blocking. (The current operations of the curbside bus lane are weekdays from 7-10 a.m. and 2-7 p.m., originally put in place to accommodate commercial loading and overnight parking.) 

Upgrading curbside bus lanes to offset lanes has shown to improve safety for vulnerable road users in addition to improving bus service. 

According to Streetsblog in June, bus speeds in lower Manhattan "have cratered to under 7 miles per hour on 81 percent of buses that run during the afternoon rush."

First Avenue through the East Village also has an offset bus lane.