MTA’s bus redesign proposal means service
cutbacks for express bus riders in NE Queens
3
QUEENS WEEKLY, JANUARY 19, 2020
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Residents in Bayside and
Whitestone may soon see
severe cutbacks in express
bus service to Manhattan
following the MTA’s recent
bus redesign proposal.
The affected buses include
the QM2, QM32 and
QM20 lines which the MTA
name the QMT163 under the
new plan. The route would
operate between Beechhurst
in Queens and 6th
Avenue in Manhattan. But
express bus riders said that
this new route reduces and
eliminates service to areas
it previously serviced.
According to a flier created
by the Vittorio Bugatti,
founder of the Express Bus
Advocacy Group on Facebook,
the following is how
the QMT163 affects Queens
riders:
• Severe cuts to off-peak
service, including no express
bus service on Sundays,
and no express bus service
in Mitchell Gardens on
weekends
• Eliminating all 3rd Avenue
service to Powells Cove Boulevard/
Le Havre
• Eliminating all Midtown
express bus service along
Utopia Parkway in Whitestone
and 26th Avenue in
Bayside
• Eliminating all Super Express
trips on the QM2 and
QM20 despite good ridership
and saving riders 15 to 30
minutes over regular QM2
and QM20 service
• Service cuts to rush-hour
service
MTA data from 2018
showed that the QM2
and QM32 saw an average
weekday ridership of
1,690 people while the Q20
served an average of 1,025
every weekday, making
these lines the fourth and
eleventh most popular bus
routes run by the MTA Bus
Company.
The agency unveiled
the draft proposal at the
end of December and called
on the community to provide
feedback at a series of
public workshops across
Queens. But residents and
politicians complained that
eastern Queens residents
were once again left out of
the transportation discussion
since the MTA failed
to schedule workshops in
neighborhoods like Bayside
and Whitestone.
Councilman Paul Vallone
also chimed in on Twitter.
“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. We deserve a
seat at the table,” Vallone
tweeted.
The Express Bus Advocacy
Group flier encouraged
bus riders to reach out
to local politicians like Grodenchik,
Vallone, Assemblymen
Ed Braunstein and Ron
Kim and Senator John Liu
to make them aware of the
need for the express buses.
Reach reporter Jenna
Bagcal by e-mail at jbagcal@
qns.com or by phone at (718)
260-2583.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Ridgewood-area residents share concerns over bus redesign
BY MAX PARROTT
At Community Board
5’s meeting on Wednesday,
Jan. 9, Ridgewood-area
commuters vented their
concerns over MTA’s draft
plan of the Queens Bus Network
Redesign.
Like the residents of
Jackson Heights who recently
created an online
petition to protest the
elimination of routes they
see as vital to the neighborhood,
members of the Glendale,
Maspeth and Middle
Village communities expressed
their concerns over
several local lines that are
being cut.
“We don’t have great
public transportation in
Glendale, and the one bus
that goes to the express
train is now being eliminated
— the Q23,” said
Kathy Masi.
Masi went on to suggest
that the community board
make a concerted effort to
weigh in on the plan, and
encouraged its members
to show up at the district’s
scheduled MTA meeting
Jan. 21.
One parallel to Jackson
Heights involved the residents’
fears about the loss of
bus lines that demographics
like seniors and people
with disabilities rely on
exclusively for accessible
transportation.
A criticism that has
emerged from the unveiling
of the redesign is that its
objective seems to be to take
commuters to the closest subway,
presuming residents
are physically able to take
the that form of transit. In reality,
only about a quarter of
subways stations across the
city have elevators.
Maryann Lottanzio, a
resident of Maspeth, took
the floor to state her concerns
about the elimination
of the Q18, a route that
starts in Grand Avenue in
Maspeth and travels up
northwest to Astoria, hitting
the 61st Avenue Woodside
station.
“You can take the Q18
to 61st, you can take an escalator.
If the escalator is
broken you got an elevator
there,” said Lottanzio.
She pointed out that the
Q18 passes several large coops
on 65th Place inhabited
by a large percentage of seniors
and families, whose
children take the bus to
school in Astoria.
Transit Committee
Chair John Maier said
that the elimination of local
routes like the Q18 is a
trade off of the MTA’s revenue
neutral approach to the
redesign. In other words,
when the plan increases
service in one neighborhood
or incorporate new
destinations, it cuts service
from elsewhere. He
said that the Q18 should
be looked at, but suggested
the circuitous path might
explain why it was cut.
“It wove in and out of
the neighborhoods that it
served and didn’t serve to
get people places quickly.
But you need to make sure
that the service that is being
provided where the service
is needed,” Maier said.
“A lot of what I think
we’re missing in Maspeth,
Middle Village and Glendale
is some of that local service
is getting taken away that
would take us north. I’ve
already heard people very
concerned about the Q47,”
Maier added.
Maier said that the committee
was in talks to get
an MTA representative at
its February meeting.
Before that happens,
Ridgewood will be the MTA’s
first stop on its public workshop
tour around the borough
aimed to share the bus
proposals and collect feedback.
Community Board 5’s
workshop will be held from 6
to 8 p.m. Jan. 21 at the Greater
Ridgewood Youth Council,
59-03 Summerfield St.
But complaints have already
sprung up about the
feedback session itself. A
spokesperson for Councilman
Robert Holden came
to the meeting to say that
Holden was upset the MTA
is not coming to Maspeth
or Middle Village to listen
to their concerns as individual
neighborhoods.
CB5 member Walter
Sanchez, who had been
communicating with the
MTA representative assured
the members that
he got the impression that
community board recommendations
are going to be
very important as the plan
goes forward.
To view the plan, visit
new.mta.info/queensbusredesign.
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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