Eastern Queens residents demand better
bus service at Oakland Gardens meeting
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Transportation woes continued
to plague Queens residents
this week, as commuters
expressed dissatisfaction with
the current system.
On Oct. 10, state Senator
John Liu hosted a bus redesign
meeting in Oakland Gardens
for eastern Queens residents
to give suggestions on
how to modernize bus service
and routes. The senator sought
to elicit community feedback
before the MTA released its
initial redesign plan in November.
In April, the agency announced
its plans to revamp
Queens buses as per NYC
Transit President Andy Byford’s
Fast Forward plan. According
to the MTA, the bus
network is the largest in North
America, with more than 5,700
buses and over 300 routes.
Queens has 77 local and 30 express
and SBS routes, which
serve an average of 714,000 riders
every weekday.
From 2017 to 2018, the agency
reported that ridership on
Queens’ 77 local routes went
down 4.2 percent from 349,112
riders to 334,451 riders. In 2017,
Comptroller Scott Stringer reported
that average bus speeds
among local, express and SBS
routes in Queens clocked in at
8.1 miles per hour, which was
slightly higher than the city
average of 7.4 miles per hour.
Darryl Irick, the president
of MTA Bus Operation, said
that the current bus routes
originated from New York’s
old trolley network and have
not evolved since.
To improve service in
Queens and citywide, Bayside
resident Ben Turner suggested
an increase in the number
of SBS buses, which stop less
frequently, and “reprioritizing
road space.”
“Given what’s happened on
14th Street in Manhattan, we
need more ‘bus only’ routes
entirely. Especially in areas
like Kissena in Downtown
Flushing, which serves multiple
bus routes, and Main
Street and other areas where
it could work,” Turner said.
“I think they really have to
take a hard look at reprioritizing
road space towards mass
Senator John Liu and ATU 1056 President Mark Henry at the Oct. 10 bus redesign meeting in Oakland Gardens.
transit and away from singlepassenger
vehicles.”
Multiple residents complained
about the issue of
“bunching,” where buses running
along the same route arrive
one after the other. Warren
Schrieber, the Second Vice
Chairperson for Community
Board 7, suggested that the
MTA stretch out the headway
— also known as distance or
time — between two buses.
He also suggested implementing
a “gap bus,” which
would be between two buses
and which the MTA could call
upon in the event of delays.
While buses were the main
focus, some residents thought
that the entire transportation
network needed rehabilitation.
Bayside resident Barbara
Gillespie proposed a more “holistic”
approach to transportation
redesign.
“Instead of just coming up
with a new plan for the buses,
I think they really have
to take a hard look at
reprioritizing road space
towards mass transit and
away from single-passenger
vehicles.
Ben Turner
Bayside resident
I think you have to consider
other modes of transportation
and not have 10 separate plans.
It should be more of an integrated
effort,” Gillespie said.
“If you only have a bus plan
and then you have a bike plan
and then you have a whatever
other plan, and they’re not all
talking to each other, you’re
gonna have a mess.”
She suggested a “smartly
designed bike lane network”
so that those who wanted to
safety bike to transportation
hubs could do so, either with
their own bikes or with a system
similar to Citi Bike.
In January, the city
launched the Fair Fares program,
Photo by Jenna Bagcal/QNS
which allows low-income
New Yorkers to use buses
and subways at a discounted
rate. But Councilman Barry
Grodenchik, who has been a
longtime supporter of transit
equity, said that Fair Fares
should also be implemented on
the Long Island Rail Road.
“This year, we implemented
Fair Fares which allows people
of limited means to use the
subway and use the bus system
and I think that’s a great thing.
It’s a great equalizer,” Grodenchik
said. “The subway system
only works if you can get
on. The Long Island Rail Road
would be an instant gamechanger
for the communities
in eastern Queens, in southeastern
Queens, along with the
Metro-North in the Bronx.”
Reach reporter Jenna Bagcal
by e-mail at jbagcal@qns.
com or by phone at (718) 260-
2583.
FLUSHING TIMES (USPS#03925) is published weekly by Queens CNG LLC, 38-15 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, NY 11361, (718) 229-0300. The entire contents of this publication are copyright 2019. All rights reserved.
The newspaper will not be liable for errors appearing in any advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Periodicals postage paid at Flushing, N.Y. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the
FLUSHING TIMES C/O Queens CNG LLC 38-15 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, N.Y. 11361
2 TIMESLEDGER, OCT. 18-24, 2019 BT QNS.COM
/QNS.COM
link
