NYC Council Demands Details About Bus Expansion

With rising housing costs and new economic opportunities pushing people to the outer boroughs, many New Yorkers' commute times are growing. That's according to Council Member Brad Lander.  He says expanding bus rapid transit's a cost effective solution to this problem.

 

"We must do things to make it more possible for those New Yorkers with extreme commutes, many with commutes of an hour or more each way, to have a faster way to get to their jobs, to get home and to get to the places they need to go," Lander said. 

 

The New York City Council held an oversight hearing Tuesday to voice concerns about Mayor de Blasio's proposal to implement 20 new bus rapid transit routes by the end of 2017.

 

A spokeswoman for the city's Department of Transportation says the first new rapid transit routes will be on Manhattan's 86th Street, Brooklyn's Utica Avenue, as well as on Woodhaven Boulevard and the Flushing-Jamaica corridor in Queens.  

 

The DOT says the route between Flushing and Jamaica will also provide an interborough connection to the Bronx.  But Jamaica Council Member Daneek Miller says that won't help residents get to commitments in the heart of Manhattan.

 

"75% of my district travel 1.5 hours to get [to Manhattan] and this plan, as currently consituted, does nothing to address that issue," Miller said.

 

The DOT says they prioritized lines with the highest ridership and are still working out plans for the other new routes. The City Council's considering legislation that would require the DOT to provide more specifics about future service expansion.