The difficulty of moving buses through the city affects the 1.1 million New Yorkers who ride them. Recent data put city bus speeds at just 8.1 miles per hour.

The pressure puts bus operators in a difficult position. Elisé Nerette, a Queens bus driver, said delivery riders “sneak into our blind spot and cut in front of us,” making it harder to keep a bus moving safely.

Zhang described feeling caught between traffic rules and an app’s demands. “The app is always timing you,” said Fenyi Zhang, an Uber Eats driver. “I have to run red lights and sometimes even get into accidents with other drivers.”

A 2024 NYC Comptroller report found that app-based delivery workers can face deactivation or lockouts for declining orders or failing to complete enough orders within fixed time frames, creating pressure to make deliveries quickly.

An analysis by Transportation Alternatives found that more than 75% of city street space is devoted to moving or storing cars. Buses and delivery workers rely on limited curb space: buses need room to pull in and out, while couriers need a place to wait and manage orders.

The Department of Transportation has responded by advancing the NYC Streets Plan, a city law passed in 2019 that requires hundreds of miles of protected bus and bike lanes. The aim is to use street design to reduce conflict and improve safety.

TWU Local 100 has called for stronger enforcement of bus lanes. The Worker’s Justice Project, which represents couriers through Los Deliveristas Unidos, is pushing for safer infrastructure. Nerette said the solution must come from “both sides”: the city must create safer space, and delivery companies must change their demands.