Thanks to a state grant, Westchester County is proceeding with a project to better coordinate traffic lights with the buses that go down Central Avenue in White Plains, Greenburgh and Yonkers.
The $2.4 million from the state Department of Transportation will be used to fund sensors and other technologies which, when a bus is approaching, will change a signal to green or extend the existing green time. The project should be completed by 2012.
"Getting people where they need to go quickly and safely are part of the core mission of the Bee-Line system," said County Executive Robert P. Astorino. "This initiative will enhance service in both respects. It will also increase the economic vitality of Central Avenue and the overall county in the process."
Central Avenue is one of Westchester County's most prominent commercial corridors, extending approximately 14 miles from White Plains at the north end to the Bronx.
The Bee-Line Rt. 20, which operates on Central Avenue, currently has the highest ridership in the Bee-Line system, with approximately 12,500 riders on weekdays and Saturdays. Ridership has been growing in the past several years due to the redevelopment of Yonkers Raceway and the Cross County Shopping Center, the extensive development in downtown White Plains and free transfers through the use of MetroCard to the New York City subway in the Bronx.
In 2009, the county Department of Transportation completed a planning study to determine ways to improve bus service in the Central Avenue corridor. Transit signal priority was identified as a successful technique that has been implemented on bus systems in the New York metropolitan region and around the country.
Through a competitive process, Westchester County selected the firm of Parsons Brinckerhoff to design the transit signal priority system for Central Avenue.