The MTA is redesigning Queens bus routes and schedules from scratch. The draft plan was just released on January 2nd. If you live in Jackson Heights, you should be concerned, as
our service will be reduced and our commutes lengthened. We will lose all the buses that take us to the 74th st/Roosevelt subway station, buses will be less frequent, and some night service eliminated altogether.
What can we do about this? The plan is in draft state now.
Feedback to the MTA – directly and through our elected representatives - is critical in January and February.
Please make every effort to attend the only MTA feedback session near us – in Corona, speak to our state and city reps, and register your feedback on the MTA website.
Here is a summary of the changes and their impact to Jackson Heights, feel free to use this in your communications with our representatives and the MTA.
The MTA’s draft Queens Bus Redesign plan will make Jackson Heights bus service significantly worse, and needs to be fixed before planning goes any further.
- Removes east-west service to 74th Street/Roosevelt subway.
The Q49, Q32, and Q33 will be eliminated. The proposed QT10 and QT72 are north/south lines stopping at Roosevelt, which forces commuters to walk or take the #7 to get to 74th street subway hub. Only 74th street is accessible via elevator, so the infirm will lose access to the subway. The proposed QT61 will run north/south to Roosevelt along 75th street, isolating eastern Jackson Heights.
- Removes east-west service to Long Island City and the Queensbridge express subway stop.
The Q66 will terminate at Northern and 54th, which forces commuters to take a second bus or a local subway.
- Removes bus stops.
North/South bus lines will stop every two avenues or less. For instance, the QT10 (81/82 st.) will have one stop between Roosevelt/74th and northern, instead of three. This will be quite difficult for the elderly or infirm.
- Reduces and removes night-time service.
It is unclear in the draft, but it appears night time service will be reduced to every 30 minutes (from 20 minutes today), and cease between midnight and 5 A.M., using the QT10 as the example.
Please
attend this in-person MTA feedback session:
Thursday, January 30, 6pm
Langston Hughes Library and Cultural Center, 100-01 Northern Blvd Corona, NY 11368
Please
add your comments on this plan on the MTA website here:
https://mta-nyc.custhelp.com/app/comments_queensbus?fbclid=IwAR0GX1JYOlnIgwWlQTjrXWvrs3MXiu8j09-MdEuaCr-gIotUr3vNtA9JK1QPlease
call our representatives – calls are treated with more importance than email:
State Senator Jessica Ramos
718-205-3881
email:
ramos@nysenate.govCity Councilman Danny Dromm
718-803-6373
email:
dromm@council.nyc.govState Assemblyman Michael DenDekker
718-457-0384
email:
DenDekkerM@nyassembly.govThe overview of the MTA Bus Redesign Plan is here:
https://new.mta.info/system_modernization/bus_network/queensbusredesign/draftplanThe detailed full plan is here:
https://new.mta.info/document/12706Please
add your name to a petition regarding east-west bus service available here:
https://www.change.org/p/mta-east-west-bus-routes-must-continue-in-jackson-heights?recruiter=1031970289&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_abi&utm_term=psf_combo_share_abi&recruited_by_id=9f866ac0-2d0e-11ea-9b05-69fe94b02004&share_bandit_exp=abi-19889736-en-US&share_bandit_var=v1&utm_content=fht-19889736-en-us%3Av2
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