The comments MTA workers began gathering from bus riders Tuesday will help shape the future of service in Brooklyn.
"Well, I hope it's for the best, especially for the 55," one bus rider said. "That's the worst bus route right now. So I hope it gets better."
The outreach in Bushwick is the first step in the MTA's plan to overhaul the entire bus network in the borough. It will likely change the way many of the 650,000 daily bus riders in Brooklyn get around. The MTA has launched similar borough-wide route redesigns on Staten Island and in the Bronx.
"I don't like it. I have to drive in the morning to bring them to school because the bus is never on time," one mother said.
"It's never on time. I hate it. I won't take the bus," another commuter said.
The MTA will use the feedback and other information to redraw its 72 bus routes in the borough, many of them implemented decades ago and no longer in line with the travel needs of residents. The goal is to provide service that runs more frequently and serves more customers in the busiest parts of Brooklyn.
"More buses running on time," one commuter said about her bus wish list.
"Better routes. Most of the routes are closed," said another. "When you take a ride down, everything is a detour, so it kind of delays everything."
The MTA hopes the overhaul will reverse a slide in bus ridership in Brooklyn. The changes could include straightening some routes and adding more express routes, including Select Bus Service, for which passengers pay the fare at kiosks before boarding, to speed up service.
"They should have Select Bus Service for the 54. That goes downtown. They should have the Select Bus Service because that ride is mainly like 45 [minutes] to an hour long."
The MTA will continue this public outreach through the end of the month. It will also host open houses through next month.
The goal is to have a final plan in place by the end of next year.
-----
FURTHER TRANSIT READING
Why Helicopter Trips to NYC Airports are Taking Off
NYC Ferry Riders Mostly White and Middle-Class, Data Shows
First Phase of L Train Construction Completed Ahead of Schedule, Cuomo Says
MTA Testing Ultra-Wideband Radio Technology on Several Lines
5-Year-Old Rescued After Her Father Jumps in Front of Train with Her in the Bronx