Tremont Avenue Busway Access Starts Saturday in the Bronx

The New York City Department of Transportation said the Tremont Avenue Busway in the Bronx launched on Saturday, September 19, 2026. The official NYC DOT busway page sets the rules every day from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.: only buses, trucks with more than six wheels, Access-A-Ride vans, emergency vehicles, and bicycles may travel the full half-mile corridor.

Anyone driving to Arthur Avenue, the Bronx Zoo area, or a Bx36 stop should treat Saturday as a new access day, not a suggestion. Passenger cars and for-hire vehicles may still turn onto Tremont Avenue for a local stop, then must take the next available right turn. For New York trip routing beyond this corridor, Deep Arrival’s closest airport to New York City guide remains the place to pick JFK, LaGuardia, or Newark before you hit Bronx streets.

Saturday Rules on Tremont Avenue

DOT said the busway is about a half mile long. Eastbound it runs from Third Avenue to Southern Boulevard. Westbound it runs from Southern Boulevard to Belmont Avenue. Those two segments cover the commercial blocks around Arthur Avenue, where visitors already come for food halls, restaurants, and the walk to nearby parks.

The department’s stated aims are faster, more reliable Bx36 service for more than 39,000 daily riders, better truck movement for local deliveries, and a safer street for people walking and cycling. DOT said other New York City busways have improved bus speeds by up to 60 percent and cut pedestrian and cyclist injuries by up to 45 percent. Those are citywide results from earlier busways, not a measured first-day result on Tremont Avenue.

WABC-TV, reporting independently on Saturday, said the Bx36 can crawl as slowly as five miles an hour in peak traffic and that Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office expects the project to save riders about six minutes a trip. The station also noted this is not the free-bus program the mayor campaigned on. The traveler decision on September 19 is the street rule, not a fare change.

Red paint and “BUS TRUCK ONLY” markings now sit at the start and end of each busway block. DOT said signs on Tremont Avenue and the intersecting streets explain the required turns. If you are new to the corridor, read the markings before you commit to a through movement that a camera or a cop will treat as a violation.

Who May Drive Through and Who Must Turn

From 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., through traffic is limited. Buses, trucks with more than six wheels, Access-A-Ride vans, emergency vehicles, and bicycles may travel the full eastbound or westbound segment. Passenger vehicles, including taxis and other for-hire cars, may turn onto the busway from a side street and must make the next available right turn to leave.

Pickup and drop-off remain legal along the busway. Parking remains legal along the entire busway if you follow the posted parking signs. DOT was explicit that the busway is not a no-stopping corridor. It is a no-through-drive corridor for ordinary cars during the daytime window.

Left turns from the busway are banned, except that trucks may turn left at Third Avenue. DOT said the left-turn ban exists so traffic does not stack behind a vehicle waiting to cut across the bus and truck stream. If your mapped route needs a left from Tremont Avenue between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m., pick another street before you enter.

DOT published block-by-block exit rules. Eastbound examples include entering from Third and Lafontaine Avenues and exiting right on Arthur Avenue, or entering from Belmont and Hughes Avenues and exiting right on Crotona Avenue. Westbound examples include entering from Southern Boulevard and Marmion Avenue and exiting right on Mapes Avenue. Use the city’s maps, not a generic GPS line that still treats Tremont Avenue as an open through street.

Bx36 Riders and Bronx Visitors

If you ride the Bx36, Saturday is the first day the bus is supposed to share less of the block with through cars. DOT did not publish a new timetable in the launch notice. Check the MTA schedule the city links from the busway page, and still allow extra time on day one while drivers learn the turns. A six-minute saving is the mayor’s stated target, not a guarantee on the first weekend.

If you are driving to Arthur Avenue, the New York Botanical Garden, or the Bronx Zoo, do not treat Tremont Avenue as a crosstown shortcut between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. Use the next right-turn exit if you drop someone off, then continue on a parallel street. Southern Boulevard, the Cross Bronx Expressway, and the numbered streets DOT lists on its how-to maps are the intended alternatives.

This launch sits on the same September 19 to 20 weekend as other New York street restrictions. Pair it with Deep Arrival’s New York City street closures for September 19 and 20 if you are already rerouting around parades. A Bronx busway and a Manhattan parade are different projects. They stack on the same calendar for anyone in a car.

Do not read the DOT page as a statement that a named restaurant, market, or shop is closed. The city said parking, pickup, and drop-off remain. Some business owners told WABC-TV they expect more foot traffic, and others worried about loading hours. Those are opinions, not an official closure list. If a specific business posts its own hours, use that notice.

Overnight Hours and Alternate Routes

From 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., DOT said busway regulations are not in effect. All vehicles may drive the length of Tremont Avenue and may make left and right turns unless other signs say otherwise. Parking remains, still subject to posted rules. A late dinner on Arthur Avenue or a night arrival at a Bronx hotel is a different driving problem from a Saturday afternoon zoo trip.

The August 12 mayoral groundbreaking described a larger package: about one mile of busway plus 0.26 miles of bus lane, intersection safety work, and bus-priority treatments from Webster Avenue to Southern Boulevard. DOT’s Saturday operating page is narrower. It defines the half-mile segments now in force. Do not assume the full future bus-rapid-transit corridor is already painted.

Mayor Mamdani and DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn said in August that the Bronx’s first busway is also meant to reconnect a neighborhood split by the Cross Bronx Expressway. That is policy context. The traveler action is simpler: if your GPS still sends you straight down Tremont Avenue in daylight, override it. Take the next right, or stay off the corridor until 8 p.m.

The Saturday page emphasizes red paint, required-turn signs, and the vehicle classes that may go through. Drive as if a through movement in a passenger car is a ticket, because that is the rule the city published.