WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES AUGUST 3, 2017 3
MTA says Maspeth doesn’t need an express bus line
BY ANTHONY GIUDICE
AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@A_GIUDICEREPORT
Taking public transportation
around Maspeth can be diffi cult,
time consuming and frustrating,
especially with all the sewer work
and a three-year-long (and counting)
detour of the Q47 bus.
Now the MTA has declined a Queens
lawmaker’s request for an express bus
route for the neighborhood.
In March, Councilwoman Elizabeth
Crowley advocated for bringing
express bus service to Maspeth by
writing a letter to MTA New York
City Transit Acting President Darryl
Irick. In her letter, Crowley points out
express buses already run through
Maspeth, yet do not make any stops
in the community.
But in a July 10 letter to Crowley,
Irick nixed the idea, noting that the
express buses which run through
Maspeth without making stops are
operating on the limited access Long
Island Expressway (LIE) route and
take advantage of the HOV lane leading
to the Queens Midtown Tunnel. If
the express bus was to enter the LIE
in Maspeth, Irick contends, it would
prevent the bus from entering the
HOV lane.
Additionally, these express buses
may be seen traveling along the
LIE service road in Maspeth due to
traffi c congestion on the Expressway,
Irick said.
“In general, express bus service
has been suff ering from lengthening
travel times due to traffi c congestion,
which has negatively impacted ridership,”
he wrote. “Moreover, Maspeth
already has ample bus-to-subway
connections to Manhattan; therefore,
we cannot add express bus service to
the Maspeth community at this time.”
Since then, Crowley has penned
another letter to Irick, outlining
several points for the acting president
to reconsider before shutting the case
on bringing an express bus route to
Maspeth.
In her letter, Crowley says that
although there is currently no access
to the HOV lane on the LIE from
Maspeth, it does not stop the MTA
from working with the Department
of Transportation (DOT) to add a second
access point, and that an express
bus in Maspeth does not need to alter
an existing route but can create a new
route.
She also points out that although
Maspeth is serviced by many bus
routes to take commuters to subway
connections, many of those buses
are unreliable and are jam-packed
during the rush hours.
“Finally, you must consider that
not one of the buses listed has an
average speed over 9 mph according
to the Bus Turnaround Coalition and
it takes Maspeth residents about 40
mins sic to get to work according to
census data,” Crowley wrote. “While
Maspeth has ample transportation on
paper, commuting is not ideal for many
of the residents that rely on local
bus service. You should identify ways
to speed up local bus service and
re-examine the possibility of express
bus service for Maspeth.”
Photo via Wikipedia Commons
Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley's request to bring an express bus to
Maspeth was shot down by the MTA.
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