By Joseph Morales

 

               After an almost two year delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the budget woes that came along with it, the MTA has finally implemented the final plan for the Bronx Bus Network Redesign. Bronxites have waited patiently for this day in order to have a faster and more reliable system for many years. Many Bronxites who rely on buses live in areas that lack subway service or make crosstown trips for which there is no subway service except for at almost the very southernmost point of the borough.  Since about 60% of Bronxites do not own cars,(not including middle/high school students between the ages 12-18), buses are a critical part of mobility in the borough. Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson said this in a recent video on the redesign published on the mtainfo youtube channel, “People want to get to their destination safely, they want it to be efficient services, reliable and affordable. If you check all of those boxes, you will have happy commuters in our borough.”

 

 

 

         The Bronx Bus Network Redesign has presented the Bronx and the MTA to design a bus map and bus schedules that reflect the needs of today’s riders. The redesign includes measure such as more direct routes, route extensions, increased frequencies and bus stop spacing to provide riders with faster and more reliable service. The first step to redesigning the bus network was an existing conditions report published by the MTA in February 2019 that had almost all information relevant to travel in the Bronx from demographics to common trip patterns to who rides the buses and everything in between, giving MTA brass an understanding of the needs of Bronx bus riders. This was followed by the publishing of a draft plan in May of the same year that was a proposal for how the bus network should be redesigned and the MTA allowed for public feedback to determine how it should be revised and edited. This was done through countless open houses and public hearings.  Some changes that were made from the draft included keeping the existing Bx34 routing rather the intended proposal of rerouting the Bx34 from Valentine to Webster Avenue along with plans to streamline Bx24 service to replace Bx8 service in Locust Point no longer being part of the redesign.

  This led us to the final plan published in October 2019. The intention was  to implement the plan in October 2020, however that was delayed for many reasons associated with the pandemic from the MTA’s $12B debt in 2020 to a re-evaluation of the plan to see how the pandemic altered travel patterns the initial final plan was based off of.  This led to one more public hearing in November 2021 and here we are today with a new and improved bus network.

     This morning as Bronxites woke up to this new bus network. I had the privilege of riding the very first run of the Bx25 from the Bay Plaza Shopping Center in Co-Op City to Bedford Park-Lehman College. There was some confusion as several riders in Co-Op City believed the bus was a Bx28, and the driver had to tell them this was not the case. Signage in Co-Op City also indicates the Bx25 goes to Norwood which is not the case, indicating that there is work that needs to be done to notify riders of the changes. However, overall today signals a better day for the Bronx and its bus riders.

  

First Bx25 to run from Bay Plaza in Co-Op City to Bedford Park

Me taking a picture in front of Bx25 prior to departure at 6:24 AM on Sunday, June 26th, 2022