Collisions between bicycles and city buses have increased by 25 percent this year, a steep rise that bus drivers and transit officials blame on the alarming number of bike lanes cutting into bus routes.
Some 40 buses smacked into cyclists from Jan. 1 through Oct. 18, up from 32 in the same period last year, according to MTA statistics.
Officials with the Transport Workers Union Local 100 — which represents the majority of MTA bus drivers — say the increase likely stems from busy bike lanes being installed along narrow streets that are also used by buses.
“There have been issues of bike lanes being on bus routes,” said TWU division Chairman Willy Rivera.
“They are generally dangerous because the drivers have to cross them to get into the bus stop.”
As The Post reported yesterday, drivers on the B63 bus route — which runs from Brooklyn Heights to Fort Hamilton — say the bike lanes on Fifth Avenue create a dangerous situation because the road is too narrow.
“I have close calls every day,” said bus operator Darren Davis.
Nevertheless, the city has proposed extending the bike lanes — some of which share the same narrow road as the buses and cars — from Park Slope into Sunset Park.
That plan was rejected by the Community Board 7, which said the road was too congested.
Buses have had issues with bike lanes in other parts of the city, too.
“On inspection of the B61 a couple of months back, we witnessed several close calls on Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue,” Rivera said, referring to the route from Windsor Terrace to Downtown Brooklyn.
The Staten Island S51 bus has also had problems squeezing past the bike lanes on Bay Street, officials said.
A spokesman for the Department of Transportation said it was not aware of the bus drivers’ complaints and its statistics on collisions were lower.
The city has added more than 390 miles of bike lanes in the past 10 years, which has helped to more than double the number of cyclists commuting to work from 2007 to 2011, the DOT boasts.