Category: Bus Network Redesigns

Increase in Bx29 service will Make It Easier to Get to The Bronx’s Summer Paradise

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By Joseph Morales

                 The Bronx Bus Network Redesign will make Bronx bus routes more frequent, reliable and faster for bus riders in The Bronx. The redesign is being done as many Bronx bus routes are extremely old, some are even carbon copies of old trolley lines. Since then, many job and recreational opportunities have created new travel patterns throughout the Bronx. One place that has seen an increase in trips in City Island in The Bronx. This is why the Bx29(the only Bronx bus route that enters City Island) will now have overnight service at 40 minute headways. This will allow bus riders to travel to and from City Island for more purposes and more often than ever before. Transit riders will now have a more equitable opportunity to enjoy The Bronx’s Summer Paradise.  The changes will take place on June 26th, right on cue for City Island’s peak summer visitor season.

 

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Co-Op City in The Bronx is Getting Some New Travel Options As Part Of The Bronx Bus Network Redesign

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By Joseph Morales

 

 

                      Co-Op City is a high density residential community in the Northeastern Bronx that comprises mainly tall, residential apartment buildings. Asch, Dreiser and Einstein Loops have mini shopping plazas with small businesses and community destinations such as delis, community centers, pharmacies and more. There are massive greenways that connect most of the loops and residences to each other. Co-Op City is known for one of the largest shopping malls in The Bronx, Bay Plaza, which attracts shoppers from throughout the Bronx.

                      Though Co-Op City has never had subway service, it has been a hub for bus transit in The Bronx for many years. Co-Op City has 7 local routes, the Q50-LTD, the Bx12-SBS and the BxM7 express bus to Midtown Manhattan. The Bx38 and Bx12-SBS are commonly used by riders from throughout the borough to access the Bay Plaza Shopping Center. All 7 bus routes are also commonly used by students to attend any of 5 schools in the Northeast Bronx Educational Park located in Co-Op City.  Many Co-Op City residents also ride the buses to subway stations (most notably the Pelham Bay Park station on the 6 line) and other destinations throughout the Bronx. Co-Op City is also the largest naturally occurring retirement community in not just New York, but all of the United States, so routes are heavily relied on by senior citizens to get them to destinations safely and reliably. Now, routes are being adjusted to better reflect the travel needs of the community and make Co-Op City’s bus network even more robust.

 

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The Benefits Of The Main St/Kissena Blvd Busway in Downtown Flushing Have Been Felt Throughout The Queens Bus System

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By Joseph Morales

              Downtown Flushing is one of Queens and New York City’s most important commercial districts outside of Manhattan. It is a hub for numerous businesses including retail shops and restaurants.  It is one of the largest central business districts in all of New York City outside of Manhattan.

             In addition to being an area of high activity, Downtown Flushing is also one of the most critical transit hubs in all of Queens. The Flushing-Main St station was the 10th busiest subway station in all of New York City in 2020 and the 2nd busiest in all of Queens only behind the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue/74th St-Broadway station complex. 20 bus routes, the LIRR and the Flushing-Main St subway station all converge in the area.  As for the buses, 20 routes converge in Downtown Flushing, with 11 of them operating on the Main St/Kissena Blvd Busway that travel to destinations throughout Queens. They carried between about 173,000 people daily pre-pandemic. When the Queens bus system was first designed, routes were proposed to get as many people as possible to subway stations in the borough’s core business districts (particularly those from transit deserts in Eastern Queens), and is still one of the primary uses of these buses today. Pre-pandemic, about 28,000 riders took a bus to subway transfer at the Flushing-Main St station on the 7 train, providing access to Western Queens, Midtown Manhattan and the broader NYC Subway System.

                  Given the amount of riders who need to get in, out and around Downtown Flushing daily, fast and reliable service is imperative to get riders where they need to go. Even for riders who take buses outside of Downtown Flushing, traffic in Downtown Flushing and on the Main St corridor can still delay the buses they ride from getting to them, leading to delays for riders who do not even travel in the vicinity of the corridor. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly due to the high density of the neighborhood, buses in  Downtown Flushing on the Main  St/Kissena Blvd were known for being slow and unreliable with bus speeds of below 4 mph on weekday morning rush hours, below 3 mph midday and PM hours on buses that only operated on Main St, for buses that operated on both Main St and Kissena Blvd, bus speeds were 4.8 mph during the AM peak and below 4 mph during the midday and PM peak periods.

    This is why the NYCDOT and MTA implemented the Main St/Kissena Blvd Busway a part of the citywide Better buses initiative in order to get buses moving faster, ease congestion and help hundreds of thousands of riders to get to their destinations reliably.  Even though bus speeds may still not be very high, they have greatly improved and helped the cause to ease the load on one of the central arteries in the Queens Bus Network. The busway is also active 7 days a week, which is reflective of the need for faster buses during off-peak periods.  According to the NYCDOT, as of April 2021, bus speeds are faster at all times of the day in the northbound direction. Bus speeds from Kissena Blvd/Sanford Ave to Main St/Northern Blvd by 22% in the midday and 29% during the PM Peak period. From Main St/Sanford Ave to Main St/Northern Blvd bus speeds have increased by 13% in the midday and 12% in the PM Peak period.

 

 

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