editorial
Don’t just say ‘no’ to change
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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, SEPTEMBER 2 12 7-OCTOBER 3, 2019 BTR
Elected offi cials and Riders Alliance members voiced their concerns regarding
the Bronx Redesign Bus Plan.
Photo courtesy of Jorge Muniz/Riders Alliance
For all the attention given
to the myriad problems in
the city’s subway system, not
enough attention is paid to
the equally woeful bus network
citywide.
Notoriously slow and off
schedule, the buses nonetheless
serve as a vital transit
link for hundreds of thousands
of New Yorkers each
day. The MTA and NYC
Transportation Department
realize the problems facing
the bus network and are doing
things to try and speed
them up.
Unfortunately, in certain
instances, these efforts are
facing backlash from community
merchants and residents
who say the prescribed cures
for slow buses and street congestion
are worse than the
ailments.
With the MTA attempting
to close 14th Street in Manhattan
to all vehicular traffi
c except buses, and creating
a bus lane along Fresh Pond
Road in Ridgewood, local
groups have even taken the
extreme measure of going
to court to try and stop such
plans.
A judge dismissed the
case against the Ridgewood
bus lane on September 23,
which was based by the litigants
on the perception that
removing parking and traffi c
lanes from Fresh Pond Road
to better accommodate buses
would harm business.
But Judge Joseph Esposito,
in his ruling, wasn’t buying
it — and made, in our
view, a great point about the
resistance to traffi c changes
throughout the city.
“You know why Fresh
Pond Coalition doesn’t like
it? They don’t like it because
nobody likes change,” Esposito
told attorneys for the coalition
that sued the city and
MTA. “I don’t like change
… But it’s not about me. It’s
not about a narrow group of
people who use the roads …
Everybody has to share the
road, you don’t see that? It
looks like you’re taking a really
parochial, myopic view.”
A similar case on the proposed
14th Street busway in
Manhattan is still pending,
and one wonders if the judge
in that case would look to Esposito’s
ruling for guidance.
The transportation situation
in the city, especially
with regard to buses, is untenable.
To their credit, the
de Blasio Administration
is working with the MTA to
fi gure out ways to speed the
buses up to serve more people,
and reverse the troubling
downward trend in
ridership as frustrated commuters
turn to ride-sharing
as a faster alternative.
Whether it’s the creation
of restricted bus lanes, rerouting
entire bus lines or
expanding limited and Select
Bus services, change needs
to happen.
We’re choking on our own
traffi c, and if we can’t get to
where we need to go, we will
harm way more businesses
and families than those living
on a single street in any
given neighborhood.
The city and MTA should
always work with communities
when implementing bus
changes to make the transition
process smooth. However,
the time to just say “no”
to every proposal needs to
come to an end.
The city is at a transit
breaking point. We need to
work together to keep moving.
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