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QUEENS WEEKLY, JANUARY 26, 2020
New bus redesign workshops scheduled for Bayside, Bellerose
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Following criticisms
about the lack of bus redesign
meetings for northeast
Queens residents, the MTA
announced it would hold
additional workshops in
collaboration with elected
officials.
On Jan. 17, officials
confirmed that the MTA
scheduled two meetings in
Bayside and Bellerose for
Feb. 20 and 27, respectively.
When the agency originally
unveiled its draft plan
in December, it failed to
schedule any for residents
east of Flushing. Residents
in these areas lack train
access and buses are often
their only form of public
transportation.
The first workshop is
on Thursday, Feb. 20, at 7
p.m. at Korean Community
Services (203-05 32nd Ave.);
the second is on Thursday,
Feb. 27, at 7 p.m. at Cross Island
YMCA (238-10 Hillside
Ave.)
“Overhauling Queens
bus service will have a huge
impact in Queens, where in
most places, buses are the
only form of public transportation
available,” said
Senator John Liu, member
of the Senate Transportation
Committee. “The draft
plan proposes significant
changes to local and express
bus services in our community,
and many people have
already voiced their understandable
dismay over service
cuts.”
Liu added that the new
bus plan needs to follow
several guiding principles
in order to be fair and effective
for Queens residents
who take public transportation
regularly.
“In the end, the new
bus plan must increase the
number of residents taking
buses, not drive people
back to driving, and we
will demand practical and
common-sense revisions
to the draft plan. The MTA
can start with a revenue
neutral approach system
wide, but in Queens and especially
in areas like northeast
Queens where subways
and other transit options
don’t exist, there must be a
significant net gain and additional
investments in bus
service, especially in light
of impending congestion
pricing,” Liu said.
Earlier this month,
residents also complained
about an element of the
MTA’s draft plan which proposed
cutting express bus
service for many Queens
riders. In response to this,
officials including Liu,
Councilmen Paul Vallone
and Grodenchik, Congress
members Grace Meng and
Tom Suozzi and Assembly
members Nily Rozic and
Ed Braunstein, urged residents
to sign a petition to
the MTA and Andy Byford.
The petition stated
that thousands of northeast
Queens riders rely on
the QM2, QM3, QM6, QM20
and QM32 express buses to
get to and from Manhattan.
“Regardless of potential
low ridership levels at
non-rush hour times, residents
of northeast Queens
require reliable express
buses for their everyday
needs. Cutting service is
denying mobility to a part
of the city that is in great
need of better options. This
is unacceptable,” stated the
petition.
Vallone said that his office
gets continuous complains
from constituents in
northeast Queens who are
concerned with the proposal
and “slashes to express
bus service.”
“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,” said
Vallone. “I am pleased to
have worked with my fellow
elected officials to bring the
MTA to the neighborhood
for a public workshop with
our northeast Queens residents,
who rely on our city’s
bus network every day and
deserve a seat at the table. I
am hopeful for revisions to
this plan.”
Reach reporter Jenna
Bagcal by e-mail at jbagcal@
qns.com or by phone at
(718) 260-2583.
Northeast Queens officials announced two additional bus redesign workshops for February.
Courtesy of Vallone’s office
link
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