All aboard, Queens! Changes are coming to your commute.
The MTA on Tuesday unveiled its final proposal to redesign Queens’ bus network, aiming to improve travel speed and reliability in the city’s most bus-dependent borough.
The final proposal comes after nearly two years of public outreach to residents of Queens, which is heavily reliant on buses because the borough has relatively few subway lines. About 800,000 people commute on buses in Queens each weekday, more than the bus ridership in the entire city of Chicago.
“This has been years in the making,” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said at a press conference in Kew Gardens on Tuesday. “Because of history, Queens has much less rail service, subway and commuter rail, than its population would justify. And we are dealing with it by having the most intense and vibrant bus network in the city.”
The plan calls for 121 total bus routes in the World’s Borough, eight more than exist now. That includes local, limited, express, and select buses, plus a new designation called “Rush” intended to quickly transport passengers from outlying neighborhoods to transit hubs where they can connect to rail service.
The new map, which is subject to public scrutiny, adds some new routes while nixing or combining others. The bus network was originally designed to follow old trolley routes, and officials say the system — largely unchanged for decades — has not kept pace with shifting development patterns in the growing borough.
“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a vibrant, 21st-century bus system that can support the economy and the opportunity that we want for Queens,” said Lieber. “This is where it starts.”
Stops would be more widely spaced on local routes, aiming to reduce travel time on the city’s buses, which are the slowest of any major American city. Officials aimed to create straight, direct routes and limit the number of time-consuming turns, while simplifying…
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