By Michael V. Cusenza
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority last Wednesday held a public hearing for the Queens Bus Network Redesign Proposed Final Plan. Bus riders had a final chance to comment on the Proposed Final Plan and offer feedback before planners make revisions and present the Proposed Final Plan Addendum to the MTA Board.
Members of the public were able to comment on the proposed draft plan in person or via Zoom, with 75 speakers participating. Each speaker was given up to two minutes to address a panel of MTA representatives that included NYC Transit Interim President Demetrius Crichlow, NYC Transit Chief of Operations Planning Chris Pangilinan, and NYC Transit Senior Vice President of Buses Frank Annicaro.
The Queens Bus Network Redesign is the largest redesign the Authority has undertaken to date. Officials took a fresh look at 113 bus routes that serve nearly 800,000 bus riders in the borough to enhance bus reliability, speed, and provide better connections.
“Our bus lines have not kept up with the pace of growth in this borough for a very long time,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. “Transit equity is central to ensuring that every person in this borough has a fighting chance to get to employment, to their place of service, to their house of worship – I implore the public to get out and get their voices heard as we continue to work with the MTA, local legislators, and community boards.”
Back in March 2022, the MTA released the Queens Bus Network Redesign’s New Draft Plan, which reflected over 11,000 comments received during the first round of public engagement.
Two years ago, the MTA listed reasons for a complete borough bus network redesign:
Service Reliability • Our customers told us that Queens buses are often slow and stuck in traffic. • The On-Time Performance for Queens bus routes decreased by 12 percent from 2014 to 2018. • Queens had a Customer Journey Time Performance (CJTP) of 70 percent prior to the pandemic; CJTP measures the percentage of trips successfully made not more than five minutes later than scheduled. • As bus service becomes less reliable due to congestion, particularly in areas such as downtown Flushing and Jamaica, the effects are experienced by the majority of Queens bus customers. • During the height of the pandemic, service reliability briefly improved due to less traffic on the roads; however, much of that congestion has since returned, and reliability has begun to decrease back to pre-pandemic levels.
Bus Speeds • Prior to the pandemic, bus speeds had been declining systemwide for a number of years. Congestion, particularly in areas such as downtown Flushing and Jamaica, are an ongoing challenge to providing fast and reliable bus service for Queens residents and employees. • In 2019, average bus speeds in Queens were the second highest of the five boroughs at 8.7 miles per hour, however that number is a 3.3 percent decrease from the average speed in 2015 (9 mph). Even a small decrease in bus speed can have a cascading effect on a customer’s overall travel time. • Slower bus speeds reduce route reliability and decrease productivity, further deterring would-be customers from choosing to take the bus. • Congestion is the leading cause of declining bus speeds and service reliability in Queens. It is often worse on key corridors and choke points, amplifying its detrimental effect on bus speeds, and in turn the reliability of bus service. • During the height of the pandemic, bus speeds briefly increased due to less traffic on the roads; however, much of that congestion has since returned and bus speeds have begun to slow back down to pre-pandemic levels. Ridership Decline • Bus ridership in Queens fell 5.3 percent from 2014 to 2019—a decrease of about 40,000 average daily boardings. • The decline in ridership can be attributed to a variety of factors, including slower bus speeds, decreased reliability, modal shifts to other transportation, including the subway and Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), and demographic changes. • During the height of the pandemic, bus ridership in Queens fell to roughly 46 percent of pre-pandemic levels; however, ridership has slowly continued to recover as customers return to their daily activities.
Plan highlights include:
More direct routes. Implementing more direct routes allows for faster service. Downtown Flushing and Jamaica are areas where effects of congestion hinder bus service. A contributing factor to this congestion are bus routes that terminate in these areas. A series of proposed routes that serve downtown Flushing and Jamaica will travel through these congested areas, instead of terminating there.
Balanced Bus Stop Spacing. Removing and adjusting closely spaced bus stops along routes results in fewer route turns and faster service. The seconds saved per trip by having fewer bus stops have a positive cascading effect on overall travel times.
Bus stop placement is also key in filling gaps in the bus network; proximity to key destinations and transfer points are important components in deciding bus stop locations. In the proposed redesigned draft plan, placement of bus stops expands the reach of accessible public transportation.
Enhanced Connectivity. The proposed redesign presents new connections, enhancing connectivity at key transfer locations necessary to ensure customers have a smooth transition between buses and other modes of public transportation. The plan focuses on expanding connectivity to ADA accessible subway stations, including stations that have been identified to receive accessibility upgrades in the near future.
Bus Priority. The MTA will continue working with the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) to build upon existing efforts of expanding bus priority improvements on corridors throughout the city, implementing measures such as dedicated bus lanes, queue jumps, and transit signal priority.
Improved Accessibility and Customer Experience. The MTA and DOT will continue to work to increase bus stop accessibility throughout the borough and citywide, along with the roll out of real-time digital service information screens on buses, and countdown clocks at bus stops.
Approach any straphanger or elected official and they’ll tell you that a borough bus revolution has been sorely needed for decades.
“My district is a transportation desert, and increasing my constituents’ options to get around the city and borough is critical,” City Councilman Bob Holden (D-Maspeth) said in 2022.
The formal comment period for the Proposed Final Plan concluded on Friday, July 26.
The project team will review all comments and make final adjustments to the plan, which will be reflected in the Proposed Final Plan Addendum. The plan will be presented to the MTA Board for a vote at a later date to be announced.
“This is personal for me—I rode the Q5 to and from work in Southeast Queens for years and I know how much Queens relies on its buses,” Crichlow added on Wednesday. “I am confident this redesign will give Queens the modern bus network its riders deserve.”
