By Joseph Morales

Bronx Science and the High School for American Studies(HSAS) are two of the most prestigious high schools in New York City, with a total of about 3,500 students. Both are located just blocks away from each other in the Bedford Park section of the Northwest Bronx. As a result of both schools’ prestige, thousands of students prepare vigorously for the SHSAT each year for a coveted spot at one of the two schools. The acceptance rates for Bronx Science and HSAS are a minuscule 3 and 0.4% respectively, lower than Ivy League Colleges such as Yale and Harvard.

                   As you might imagine, students come from around the city to experience what Bronx Science/HSAS has to offer despite their Northwest Bronx location. According to data from the Bronx Science Alumni Foundation, 57% of the student population lives in Queens, 25% are from Manhattan and 2% are from Brooklyn. So many students come from Queens in fact, that the MTA had an express bus route known as the X32 run between various parts of Queens and Bronx Science once a day. Unfortunately, the route was axed in 2010 after more than 15 years due to the MTA’s budget woes following the 2008 recession. Even when the route existed, it ran only one time in both directions on each branch leaving students with little recourse if they missed the bus. Also, the limited flexibility prevented many students from participating in the many extracurriculars that Bronx Science/HSAS has to offer. 

                     Students have and now must rely on either long subway/bus rides or expensive private school bus services to get to and from the schools. The routes are mostly if not entirely, operated by three companies, Tamice, Citibus, and S&J Tour & Bus. These companies do often offer courtesy bus service for students participating in extracurricular activities. However, these buses often only make a few stops in different parts of each borough and students may have to transfer to other transit modes to get to their final destinations. For example, if a student living in East Midtown is trying to use a Tamice courtesy bus, they would have to ride to E 86th St/Lexington Ave on an indirect route passing through both Washington Heights/UWS before transferring to the subway. Tamice, who claims on its website to have the “most affordable price in the industry” on its website had a cost $4,188 for the 2023-24 school year via its monthly payment plan. As 44% of Bronx Science students live below the poverty line according to Alumni Foundation data, this service simply isn’t an option for many.

                    The lack of transportation options led to many people asking the MTA to extend the Q44-SBS to Bedford Park as part of the Queens Bus Network Redesign. 75% of Q44-related comments on the most recent draft plan asked the MTA to extend it to Bronx Science. Out of all the major themes addressed regarding Queens’ top 25 routes, this was one of only two proposals from the public that was completely rejected. This was because according to the MTA, the added length to the Q44-SBS would have compromised reliability.

                     It does make practical sense why a further extension would hamper the Q44’s reliability. The Q44-SBS as it stands is already one of the longest routes in the city between Downtown Jamaica and the Bronx Zoo. As its stands, it already runs through both Downtown Jamaica and Flushing via Main St, before crossing the oft-congested Whitestone Bridge into The Bronx. Then, it must contend with traffic around the Bruckner Interchange on its way to the Cross Bronx Expressway Service Road to get to its final destination in the West Farms section of The Bronx. This is why the bus route only has on-time performance ratings of between 75-81% for each month in 2023. For the route to get to Bedford Park, it would have to travel a minimum of another 3.5 miles. It is likely for this reason the MTA scrapped initial plans to extend the routes a shorter distance to Fordham Plaza, where it would have served more riders at all hours and provided connections to a plethora of Bronx bus routes as well as the Metro-North. 

                     It would also be hard to justify a return or even an enhanced version of the X32. The X32 back in 2010 only got 50 riders on an average weekday, likely due to the lack of flexible travel options. This ridership was so low, that a 2011 evaluation of the 2010 Service Cuts from New York City Transit said the route carried too few riders to track ridership shifts to other subway/bus routes. Even if the X32 could get more ridership, the MTA is looking to cut service on many of its heavily used express buses between Manhattan and Queens in lieu of efficiency. Hence, the MTA would likely not want to bring back the X32 unless they knew for a fact that each bus would be full. Given how dynamic school and extracurricular schedules are at Bronx Science and HSAS, it may be difficult for the MTA to set schedules they know would be efficient. For instance, the most popular extracurricular at Bronx Science, Speech & Debate has over 300 members and statistically speaking some of them would likely be X32 riders. Given the number of clubs and sports teams in both schools, this would undoubtedly be a unique challenge for transportation planners. 

                      So how can school time connections between Bedford Park and Queens be improved? As the area is already well connected to Manhattan by the 4, B, and D Trains in addition to the BxM4, Queens connections should likely be the MTA’s priority for improvements. If many students would benefit from the Q44 extension, it is worth wondering whether these students would transfer to the Q44 or walk there. If riders are walking, it may be easier for the MTA to run an express bus route once or twice an hour in the peak direction as riders would conveniently board the bus and ride directly to school.  This would mean the MTA can justify the runs from a ridership perspective and families will be happy with the convenient transit service. It may be harder for this to work if students first have to take another bus and time their connections, given the traditional unreliability of many of Queens’s bus routes.

                       Another idea could be to have some Q44-SBS runs that have a southern terminus at either Main St/Jewel Ave, Main St/Horace Harding Expwy, or Main St/Kissena Blvd in Downtown Flushing that proceed to Bedford Park. From West Farms, buses would utilize the rarely congested Southern Blvd/Mosholu Pkwy to get to Bedford Park. The MTA would likely not want to route these buses to Bedford Park by going through Fordham Plaza and Kingsbridge Rd as these streets have heavy congestion during rush hours. This proposal would provide Q44-SBS service to Bedford Park for the bulk of riders who would use it without compromising reliability as the route will be shortened. Those who live south of the terminus for a Bedford Park-bound bus can easily transfer at that terminus to a bus to Bedford Park. The only caveat to this would be that it would be unfeasible should the MTA need to subtract from Flushing-Jamaica service on the Q44 as that portion of the route receives extremely high ridership. Therefore, this will likely only work as a service addition rather than an reallocation of existing resources.

                    For many years, students from across the city have made a plethora of sacrifices to attend a specialized high school in Bedford Park. As a high school student myself, I have many friends at Bronx Science who regularly detail to me the sacrifices they make to manage the rigors of succeeding there. A plethora of evidence suggests commuting is a significant cost and time burden on students and families that stretches far beyond the classroom. Hopefully, there are transit solutions the MTA can implement that can reduce the burdens of student commuting and allow them to get the most out of the specialized high school experience they work incredibly hard for.

Works Cited

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