After a long delay, the Bronx is finally getting its first busway.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration will break ground Wednesday on the Tremont Avenue busway project, which seeks to deliver faster bus service for nearly 40,000 daily riders, amNewYork Metro learned ahead of Hizzoner’s official announcement. Currently, the bus that travels on Tremont, the Bx36, moves as slow as 5 miles per hour during peak times.

The project was supposed to begin construction last year, but it was stalled by his predecessor, Eric Adams. It is one of several that Adams had either previously paused, watered down, or killed altogether that Mamdani has jump-started since taking office. 

“After years of slow and unreliable service, Tremont Avenue is finally getting the upgrades that Bx36 bus riders have long deserved,” Mamdani said in a statement.

“Time is money, and this project will give 39,000 daily bus riders more of it back while making Tremont Avenue safer and easier to navigate for everyone,” he added. “We are going to keep working with our partners at MTA to build better busways and make getting around our city faster, safer and easier for every New Yorker.”  

Tremont is one of only a few crucial corridors that connect the eastern and western portions of a borough where subway service largely runs north-south. The upgrades are intended to make it easier for residents living along Tremont, 72% of whom do not own a private vehicle, to connect to multiple subway lines, Metro North Railroad, and other local bus routes.

The project also aims to make the road — identified by DOT as among the most dangerous in the Bronx, where an average of two injuries a day occurred between 2020 and 2024 — safer through a mixture of upgrades, according to the agency. Those include sidewalk extensions reinforced with physical infrastructure at eight intersections.

“Bronx residents deserve world-class bus service — and that starts with finally delivering on upgrades promised years ago,” DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn said in a statement. “This project will bring badly needed bus and safety upgrades on a critical crosstown route in the borough.”

The project was one of 50 identified in the city’s and state’s sweeping plan to turbocharge bus service across the five boroughs: “Next Stop.“

Tremont Avenue, combined with a stretch of the Cross Bronx Expressway, is also one of five corridors where the plan designates for adding a bus rapid transit style design — including features like stops that resemble stations.

“We look forward to building off the success of this busway and working with the community to develop Tremont Avenue into a world-class rapid transit corridor,” Flynn said.

Through the undertaking, DOT will add busways, a treatment that improves bus speeds by restricting most private vehicle traffic, along one mile of the thoroughfare. It includes an eastbound busway from Third Avenue to Southern Boulevard and a westbound busway from Southern Boulevard to Belmont Avenue.

The busways will be in effect seven days a week between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m, according to DOT.

During those hours, only buses, emergency vehicles, trucks with at least six wheels, and Access-a-Ride paratransit vans will get full access to the road. Private vehicles, including taxis and other ride-hails, will only be permitted local access from side streets and must exit the corridor at the next available turn.

However, the westbound busway will allow for local private vehicle access on every block for pick-ups and drop-offs, truck loading and unloading, and on-street parking.

The buways will be enforced by both stationary cameras and those mounted on buses as well as the NYPD.

The agency will also install an offset shared bus and bike lane running eastbound from Webster Avenue to Third Avenue — a 0.26-mile stretch.