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Without congestion pricing, MTA may pause extra weekday trips on some NYC bus routes
By
Michelle Bocanegra
Published Jul 27, 2024
Modified Jul 28, 2024
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LeoPatrizi/Getty Images
By
Michelle Bocanegra
Published Jul 27, 2024
Modified Jul 28, 2024
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Six express bus routes in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island with additional weekday trips to and from Manhattan could revert to their old schedules because of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s pause on congestion pricing, according to an MTA memo.
A memo from the agency's Chief of Operations Planning Christopher Pangilinan recommended scrapping the expanded weekday service, which was announced in April. The memo states the extra bus runs are no longer necessary because the MTA is no longer moving forward with the Manhattan tolls, which were scheduled to launch on June 30 until Hochul ordered a last-minute halt to the program.
The MTA added service to the routes, which serve riders in eastern Queens and Brooklyn and southern Staten Island, to help people commute into Manhattan without paying the planned $15 daytime toll.
“Certain weekday trips were added to express bus routes BM2, BM5, SIM1C, SIM4C, SIM23 and SIM24 in summer 2024 in connection with the anticipated launch of congestion pricing,” the memo reads. “Following announcement of the pause in congestion pricing, express bus service on these routes would revert to their previous schedules until further notice.”
The memo recommends reverting to the spring schedule beginning in September.
When the additional trips were announced earlier this year, MTA Chair Janno Lieber called them “the kinds of investments outer borough commuters want to see.”
The shift back to springtime schedules for the routes “would be an annual decrease in operating costs of approximately $883,000, comprised of $629,000 per year from NYCT bus routes,” according to the memo.
If the MTA opted to keep the routes, they would have to be supported by operating funds, according to the document, casting a pall of uncertainty over their longevity given the MTA’s dire financial situation.
When asked for comment, MTA spokesperson Tim Minton said that the document “speaks for itself.”
“Additional express runs were added specifically to increase service at the start of congestion pricing. With congestion pricing paused, it’s logical to pause a linked service increase,” Minton said. “This was submitted to the board for information and does not require board approval.”
In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Transport Workers Union Local 100 accused the MTA of quietly reducing service in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Editor's Note: This story was updated to clarify the reasons the MTA cited in its memo for scaling back express bus service.
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Michelle Bocanegra
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