Photo Courtesy of Kevin Call/MTA
As part of a “Weekday/School Open” schedule starting Thursday, Oct. 1, the MTA is adding more than 990 bus trips across the five boroughs to accommodate students.
By Forum Staff
As in-person learning at City Schools resumes, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has added nearly 1,000 trips to its bus routes.
As part of a “Weekday/School Open” schedule starting Thursday, Oct. 1, the MTA is adding more than 990 bus trips across the five boroughs to accommodate students who need to get to school in the morning and back home after dismissal. A total of 105 buses are being added to the routes.
Service is being added to the following Queens routes to accommodate students: Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5, Q7, Q8, Q11, Q15, Q17, Q20, Q21, Q22, Q27, Q28, Q30, Q31, Q34, Q36, Q37, Q38, Q41, Q43, Q44SBS Q46, Q50, Q54, Q55, Q58, Q65, Q66, Q76, Q77, Q83, Q85, Q88, Q111, and Q112.
“Our subways are running at nearly 100 percent of capacity and we’ve made sure to increase the amount of bus trips throughout the boroughs to ensure students have a convenient and safe way to get to class,” NYC Transit Interim President Sarah Feinberg said. “Students are a part of the fabric of this city and we welcome them back to a system that is cleaner than it has ever been.”
According to the MTA, Student MetroCards issued by New York City schools allow students Kindergarten to 12th grade to travel to and from school on subways and MTA NYC Transit buses. Students may only use the MetroCards on school days and during the hours specified on the card. Most eligible students are issued Student MetroCards that are valid for a total of three trips per day plus free transfers. Bus-to-subway, subway-to-bus, or bus-to-bus transfers are considered one trip.
And students riding Select Bus Service must remember to pay their fare before boarding the bus. Fares are paid at the bus stop where students obtain a receipt to validate their payment.
“We know how important our bus system is for students and how heavily they rely upon it to get to school,” said Craig Cipriano, president of MTA Bus Company and senior vice president of NYC Transit’s Department of Buses. “We will be paying close attention to student ridership and making any adjustments necessary moving forward.”
MTA officials also noted that students or their parents can use the MTA’s new capacity tracking feature on the MYmta app to track in real-time how many passengers are on each bus. The tool, available on 40 percent of buses, helps customers to plan their trips and maximize social distancing.
“We look forward to welcoming back students to our system and can’t wait for them to see all of the measures we have put in place to keep them safe, from mandating masks to the largest disinfecting program in agency history to adding hundreds of bus trips in every part of the city,” said Patrick Foye, chairman and CEO of the MTA. “However, the absence of necessary emergency federal funding means measures like these will be at risk in the future, as we continue to ask Washington for $12 billion through the end of 2021 to avert devastating service cuts, fare and toll hikes and layoffs.”
