Westchester County is roughly a year away from completing the first phase of a plan to speed up buses on Central Avenue between White Plains and the Bronx, county officials said recently. The county is using state funds to install signal priority technology that will give the No. 20 and No. 21 buses the ability to trigger green lights early if they are behind schedule, taking 6-10 minutes off of what is now a 60-90 minute trip.

This couldn’t come at a better time, as ridership on the routes is booming, according to county statistics. The Central Avenue routes saw 4.5 million trips in 2010, compared to 4.1 million in 2008 and 3.1 million in 2006. Much of the increase is due to growth at the Cross County Shopping Center and Empire Casino in Yonkers, county officials told the Journal News.

Westchester County has big plans for Central Avenue, but is rolling them out on a lengthy, multi-year timetable due to financial constraints. Further improvements include bus-only lanes, roomier buses, and pay-before-you-board fare collection (similar to NYC’s Select Bus Service) and a new “in-line” bus station and pedestrian overpass that would let buses drop passengers off at the Cross County Shopping Center without looping through the mall parking lot. These would cut travel times by over 40% during congested periods, according to county studies, and potentially anchor new development in the corridor.