MTA’s Bronx bus rollout aimed to speed up commute
Assemblyman Michael Benedetto joins Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. and other elected offi cials to announce
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BY ALEX MITCHELL
AMNEWYORK REPORTER
After months of planning
and outreach, the MTA rolled
out a new look for Bronx’ bus
network on Tuesday.
MTA Transit president
Andy Byford announced the
latest and greatest tweaks to
the plan outside of the Bronx
County Building where Borough
President Ruben Diaz Jr.
gave the MTA chief unyielding
support on the plan — which
is anticipated to commence in
upcoming months.
Also speaking at the event
were State Senator Jamaal
Bailey, assemblymembers Michael
Benedetto, Nathalia Fernandez
and LaToya Joyner,
Councilman Mark Gjonaj and
NYC Department of Transportation
commissioner Nivardo
Lopez.
“The Bronx bus redesign
gives us the opportunity to
build a foundation for a new
high-frequency network to
serve the largest number of
riders at the times when they
need bus service the most,”
Byford said Tuesday morning.
So what exactly can the
675,000 Bronx riders expect
from the new MTA bus layout?
More express service to Manhattan,
for starters.
The redesign will be bringing
in a new express bus, the
BxM5 which will run from the
north end of the borough to
Midtown. That’s in addition
to the Bx25 and M125 buses being
shifted to two new, local
routes.
“Quite frankly we were
skeptical about the redesign,
and did not know what to expect
with the redesign at fi rst,”
Diaz said.
The plan will also be removing
400 local stops, Byford
explained. The new network
includes additional bus transfer
opportunities designed to
deliver higher frequency of bus
service and reduced wait times
throughout the borough.
There are also greater connections
between subways
and buses, such as a new route
for the Bx40 and Bx42 buses
which includes a stop at the
180th Street station on the
#2 and #5 IRT subway lines.
Seven other bus routes were
also simplifi ed for greater effi -
ciency and bring customers to
major corridors.
Improving access to Co-op
City was critical to the Bronx
bus network redesign, Byford
noted.
When the Co-op City community
objected to the MTA’s
draft bus proposal, he attended
their rally to learn fi rsthand
what the residents wanted. As
a result of that meeting most
bus lines serving the neighborhood
were left intact to provide
residents as many travel
options as possible.
Another point that the bus
redesign aims to address is
improved cross-borough service
in the Bronx. Because
subway and Metro North lines
only run from north to south
in that borough, commuting
from between the east and
west ends of the Bronx relies
heavily on the MTA’s buses
through larger thoroughfares
such as Pelham Parkway and
East Tremont Avenue.
Those roads and about
eight more in the Bronx are
going to be studied by the DOT
to either have bus lanes installed
or to become ‘priority’
areas, according to DOT.
The MTA also said that adjustments
could be made to the
fi nalized plan as it progresses
forward.
the redesign on Tuesday, October 22.
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