Additional bus redesign workshops
scheduled for Bayside and Bellerose
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Following criticisms about
the lack of bus redesign meetings
for northeast Queens residents,
the MTA announced it
would hold additional workshops
in collaboration with
elected officials.
On Jan. 17, officials confirmed
that the MTA scheduled
two meetings in Bayside and
Bellerose for Feb. 20 and 27,
respectively. When the agency
originally unveiled its draft
plan in December, it failed to
schedule any for residents east
of Flushing. Residents in these
areas lack train access and
buses are often their only form
of public transportation.
The first workshop is on
Thursday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. at
Korean Community Services
(203-05 32nd Ave.); the second
is on Thursday, Feb. 27, at 7
p.m. at Cross Island YMCA
(238-10 Hillside Ave.)
“Overhauling Queens bus
service will have a huge impact
in Queens, where in most
places, buses are the only form
of public transportation available,”
said Senator John Liu,
member of the Senate Transportation
Committee. “The
draft plan proposes significant
changes to local and express
bus services in our community,
and many people have already
voiced their understandable
dismay over service cuts.”
Liu added that the new bus
plan needs to follow several
guiding principles in order to
be fair and effective for Queens
residents who take public
transportation regularly.
“In the end, the new bus
plan must increase the number
of residents taking buses,
not drive people back to driving,
and we will demand practical
and common-sense revisions
to the draft plan. The
MTA can start with a revenue
MTA’s quarterly bus service revisions slated for April
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.4 COM | JAN. 24-JAN. 30, 2020
neutral approach system wide,
but in Queens and especially
in areas like northeast Queens
where subways and other transit
options don’t exist, there
must be a significant net gain
and additional investments in
bus service, especially in light
of impending congestion pricing,”
Liu said.
Earlier this month, residents
also complained about
an element of the MTA’s draft
plan which proposed cutting
express bus service for many
Queens riders. In response to
this, officials including Liu,
Councilmen Paul Vallone and
Grodenchik, Congress members
Grace Meng and Tom
Suozzi and Assembly members
Nily Rozic and Ed Braunstein,
urged residents to sign a
petition to the MTA and Andy
Byford.
The petition stated that thousands
of northeast Queens riders
rely on the QM2, QM3, QM6,
QM20 and QM32 express buses
to get to and from Manhattan.
“Regardless of potential
low ridership levels at nonrush
hour times, residents of
northeast Queens require reliable
express buses for their everyday
needs. Cutting service
is denying mobility to a part
of the city that is in great need
of better options. This is unacceptable,”
stated the petition.
Vallone said that his office
gets continuous complains
from constituents in northeast
Queens who are concerned
with the proposal and “slashes
to express bus service.”
“In northeast Queens,
where there is no subway
access and limited public
transportation options for
commuters, the MTA should
be increasing and improving
bus service, not creating a
more desolate transportation
desert,” said Vallone. “I am
pleased to have worked with
my fellow elected officials to
bring the MTA to the neighborhood
for a public workshop
with our northeast Queens
residents, who rely on our
city’s bus network every day
and deserve a seat at the table.
I am hopeful for revisions to
this plan.”
Reach reporter Jenna Bagcal
by e-mail at jbagcal@qns.
com or by phone at (718) 260-
2583.
Northeast Queens officials announced two additional bus redesign workshops for February
Courtesy of Vallone’s offi ce
BY MAX PARROTT
As part of its quarterly bus
schedule review process, the
MTA is proposing to implement
bus schedule changes
on 41 bus routes in April 2020.
Seven of those changes are occurring
on Queens lines.
The agency called for slight
service increases on the Q13,
Q15, Q36, Q38 and Q56 and
slight decreases on the Q58,
Q76 and Q88.
The changes to peak morning
service on weekdays are as
follows:’
Increases
• Q13’s headway will go
from 6.5 to 6 minutes.
• Q15’s headway will go
from 6 to 5.5 minutes.
• Q36’s headway will go
from 8 to 6 minutes.
• Q56’s headway will go
from 12 to 8.5 minutes.
Decreases
• Q58’s headway will go
from 4.5 to 5 minutes.
• Q76’s headway will go
from 5 to 6 minutes.
• Q88’s headway will go
from 4 to 5 minutes.
• The changes to midday
service will change the Q38’s
headway from 20 to 15 minutes.
Reach reporter Max Parrott
by e-mail at mparrott@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at
(718) 260-2507. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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