GatewayJFK is a nonprofit public-private
partnership working to make our neighborhood a
great place to work in, invest in, and live in.
Learn more at:
www.gatewayjfk.org
@gatewayjfk /company/gatewayjfk
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GatewayJFK
unveils Shuttle Bus
Connects SE Queens to 8,000 jobs
Assembly Member Khaleel Anderson exhorts community needs
A new express shuttle service from
downtown Jamaica to Springfield Gardens
has been established to give a
new commuting option to employees
who work along Rockaway Boulevard
in Southeast Queens.
The GatewayJFK Connection was
officially launched at a ribbon cutting
on May 27th after a two-month pilot
period that proved more than 200
riders per day want a better connection
between the Subway/Bus/LIRR
transit hub at Sutphin Blvd. and GatewayJFK,
a Business Improvement
District (BID) that is home to an estimated
8,000 jobs in warehousing,
cargo, trucking, food manufacturing
and other industries.
According to Gateway JFK Executive
Director Scott Grimm-Lyon, “We
are here to support the workers and
residents. Our businesses have trouble
finding employees because it so
long to get here. Were in what is called
a Transit Desert, to this service will
help to get workers here faster and
easier.”
At the ribbon cutting Queens Borough
President Donovan Richards
linked the shuttle to a vital need for
transit in the area “Coming out of this
pandemic, we’re looking for a new normal
where we no longer have transportation
deserts.”
Assembly Member Khaleel Anderson
agreed “This is a step towards resolving
transportation inequities that
exist here in Southeast Queens. It’s
no secret that Southeast Queens has
among the longest commute times in
Queens and in New York City… and we
just opened up access to over 8,000
jobs by opening this service.”
Su Sanni, the CEO of Dollaride
grew up in the neighborhood that the
shuttle serves “I’m a local to this area
of Queens” said Sanni “It was important
for me to be part of a project like
this where I had the opportunity to give
back to my local community and collaborate
with other leaders in Southeast
Queens.”
To help design the route for the service
GatewayJFK and Dollaride partnered
with WXY Architecture, who did
research and interviewed HR representatives
and employees from some
of the major anchor employers in the
district including the Federal Aviation
Administration, Bornstein Caterers,
Homes for the Homeless, and Gourmet
Boutique.
“We’re currently running two shuttle
busses” said Grimm-Lyon, “We designed
the service to be able to scale
based on demand and we think that
200 riders per day is just the beginning.
We hope that the service will not
only help existing workers in the area
but help attract new jobs to the area
as well, especially as we rebound from
COVID-19.”.
App development, and the twomonth
test period were subsidized by a
grant from the New York State Energy
Research and Development Authority,
which is tracking the project to see if
it will encourage workers to drive less.
Over the next few months, the service
will slowly phase from free into a paid
service, with rides eventually costing
$2.50. To promote the new route, GatewayJFK
and Dollaride are giving away
60 free rides to people who download
the ap from the Google Play or Apple
app store, or who sign up at dollaride.
com/jfk.
The shuttle runs on weekdays from
5:00 AM to 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM to
9:00 PM and operates using a mobile
phone application built by the tech
startup Dollaride. Riders can track the
real time location of the shuttle on a
map, reserve a seat, and digitally pay
for their ride by downloading the Dollaride
app.
/www.gatewayjfk.org
/www.gatewayjfk.org
/www.gatewayjfk.org
/www.gatewayjfk.org