More than 2 million riders take buses every day, and they are critical transit resources to outer-borough neighborhoods, the disabled and some of the elderly. Yet buses have been neglected in the debate over New York City’s transit crisis. Is there a way to give passengers a better ride?
This summer, utility companies must submit plans detailing how they’ll implement a series of solutions to make electricity rates more affordable for electric vehicles. But their plan has fallen short of giving the MTA the preferential rate it says it needs to able to foot the bill, as it seeks to transition its 5,800-bus fleet off fossil fuels.
A new book released by the transit advocacy group Riders Alliance on Thursday details the experiences of Bronx seniors as they traverse the bus system.
The MTA and NYC Transit unveiled their Bus Action Plan on Monday, an effort to transform the city’s bus network and address declining ridership numbers.
A slow-evolving plan to create better bus service is encountering resistance in two boroughs.
Likely because of service problems, bus ridership overall has been shrinking. But that’s more true for some lines than others, and on some bus routes, ridership is on the way up.
The mayor has proposed expanded select bus service. The roll-out is too slow for many advocates. Meanwhile, bus drivers say increased bus-lane enforcement is necessary.
What’s wrong with the city’s buses? What’s right with them?
The authority’s chairman gave a few hints about what the forthcoming ‘bus action plan’ will look like.
Because so little of the subway system is accessible to the mobility impaired, buses play a vital role for people living with disabilities or aging New Yorkers who have trouble navigating stairs. But crowding and delays affect those riders even more than others.
Advocates says City Hall, the governor’s office and the MTA should look to cities across the country and in other countries for technological advances that could make buses reliable.
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