www.BXTimes.com BRONX WEEKLY January 26, 2020 4
The MTA’s proposed express bus service cuts will not take place this year. Schneps Media Jason Cohen
Bronxites win reprieve from express bus service cuts
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MEMBER:
JASON COHEN
The proposed cuts the
MTA was planning for Bronx
express lines had Manhattanbound
commuters on the edge
of their seat.
However, express bus riders
can now breathe a bit easier
now that the MTA’s Bronx
Bus Redesign plan no longer
includes cuts in service for
now.
On Thursday, January
16, the MTA said it will not
implement any changes to express
bus service and will revisit
the issue later this year
for 2021.
A hearing will be held
Thursday, February 20, to
review the fi nal draft of the
Bronx Bus Redesign and proposed
changes to local bus
routes.
Borough President Ruben
Diaz, Jr. commended MTA
president Andy Byford for delaying
the cuts.
“As always, thank you @
NYCTSubway and my friend
Andy Byford for listening to
the concerns of Bronx commuters,”
Diaz said on Twitter.
I
n 2019, the MTA proposed
severe express bus cuts, including
the elimination of
many local stops.
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz,
Senator Alessandra
Biaggi, Councilman Andrew
Cohen, and Congressmen Eliot
Engel and Adriano Espaillat
penned a letter to the MTA
in November, decrying the
west Bronx cuts.
“With the implementation
of congestion pricing, we
should not be reducing service
– we should be expanding
it,” they said in the letter.
“We understand the fi scal realities
of express bus service
and that the operating budget
is already constrained even
without the necessary increased
investment in outerborough
bus service,” they
said in the letter. “However,
mass transit, by its very nature,
is a subsidy to encourage
people to not drive into
our city’s densest areas.”
Councilwoman Vanessa
Gibson also expressed her
pleasure with this decision
as well. The original plans
called for rerouting he BxM4
line, but now residents can
rest easy.
“Grateful to hear this and
especially saving the BxM4
express bus that allows our
residents on the Concourse
to get to/from Manhattan!
Thank You!” Gibson said on
Twitter.
Assemblyman Michael
Benedetto announced the express
bus news to Co-op City
residents.
Co-op City residents live
in a transit desert and rely
heavily on the express buses,
he said.
Rodney Saunders, the
second vice president of the
RiverBay Board of Directors
in Co-op City is quite pleased
the MTA listened to the residents.
Co-op City, as well as
Throggs Neck and Pelham
Bay, were about to be hit hard
with off-peak service reductions.
Early morning buses heading
uptown from Manhattan
and Manhattan-bound runs
after early afternoon were being
eliminated and weekend
buses were cut back severely.
For instance, under the
initial express bus plan, the
last downtown-bound express
bus service from the east
Bronx ended at 1 p.m. on Saturday
and noon on Sunday .
On weekdays, runs that
carried fewer than 10 passengers
on average were also targeted
for cutailment.
Also, there were going to
be less Bronx express stops
in an attempt to speed up the
service.
The MTA planned to save
millions by making the proposed
reductions.
The MTA’s express bus
cuts were met with a huge
outcry. By postponing the
changes the MTA will give
the ridership a chance to
comment before implementing
a fi nal plan.
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