12 JANUARY 31, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
SNAPS
EDITORIAL
THE CALM AFTER THE STORM ON UNION TURNPIKE
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Keep it moving
in Queens!
When the city Department
of Transportation (DOT)
began creating bus-only
lanes on major Queens thoroughfares
such as Main Street and Woodhaven
Boulevard, many people wailed and
gnashed their teeth in protest.
The belief among many opponents
of the bus lanes is that they compound
the already existing traffi c, and make
it more diffi cult for all to travel these
roadways.
But the bus lanes aren’t intended to
punish drivers; they aim to move the
buses along more quickly. Thousands
of Queens residents use these buses to
get to and from work and school — and
without these lanes, fi nd themselves
bogged down in traffi c. Something had
to be done to move things along.
Even with the creation of bus lanes,
however, selfi sh drivers continue to
fl out the laws and park in the lanes
anyway, causing buses to maneuver
into and out of the lanes to get around
these obstructive vehicles. Each obstacle
means wasted time for commuters
— and more congestion for drivers in
the other lanes.
Now the city is taking action to crack
down on illegal bus lane parking. The
de Blasio administration announced
that it’s dispatching squads of tow trucks
across the five boroughs and traffic
agents to summons drivers and move
away vehicles found to be obstructing
bus lanes.
“No one wants to see cars towed,” de
Blasio said at a Jan. 24 press conference.
“If you don’t violate the law, you’re going
to be fi ne. But we’re here to send a very
strong message. There’s no parking in
our bus lanes.”
The fact is that New York City is always
looking for ways to make commuting
easier — whether through the creation
of new ferry routes or Select Bus Service
(SBS) collaborations with the MTA,
which utilize larger buses and dedicated
bus lanes to better serve commuters.
Ideally, the city would meet the transit
need through an expansion of the
subway system. But it’s going to cost the
MTA and commuters billions of dollars to
upgrade the already-broken subway system
in place, and billions more to expand
it. There’s only so many resources to go
around, barring some miraculous infusion
of federal dollars in the years ahead.
The bus lanes already on Queens
streets are here to stay, and the city has
its sights set on adding more bus lanes
and SBS routes in the years to come.
Drivers have to accept that reality, and
realize that they share the streets with
thousands of others who can’t aff ord a
car to get around.
The mayor is correct in his “strong
message” to drivers: Obey the law.
Stay out of bus lanes, or face the consequences
of your selfi sh actions.
ESTABLISHED 1908
Co-Publishers
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA SCHNEPS
Editor-in-Chief
ROBERT POZARYCKI
Classifi ed Manager
DEBORAH CUSICK
Assistant Classifi ed Manager
MARLENE RUIZ
Reporters
EMILY DAVENPORT
MARK HALLUM
CARLOTTA MOHAMED
ALEJANDRA O'CONNELL-DOMENECH
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