Crowds pile into local buses (UPDATE: Yelp Review)

Another story from this week's Riverdale Review.

By Brendan McHugh

Even Ms. Frizzle’s magic bus can’t solve this problem. 

Dinowitz is fed up with the MTA's (lack of) bus
service in Kingsbridge.

As fees for bridges and tunnels skyrocket, more and more people have flocked to buses for their main source of transportation. Unfortunately, the cash-strapped MTA hasn’t improved service to make room for the new passengers. 

The issue hasn’t gone unnoticed by Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who has requested to the MTA add extra buses during the evening rush hours of 4 to 9 p.m. to run from West 231st Street and Broadway to the city line. 

“This will provide additional service at the most crowded location at the busiest time,” Dinowitz wrote in a letter to Thomas Prendergast, president of the MTA. “It would go a long way towards making the commute of many of my constituents more bearable and would encourage more people to use mass transit.” 

Jump below for the full story.

Last week, it took straphangers for the Bx7 and Bx10 excess of seven minutes just to board the bus. Lines crowded the already busy intersection of 231st and Broadway, at times reaching the Popeye’s on 231st Street, about 15 to 20 yards up the block. Buses rolled up completely empty, only to be filled to the max, leaving some travelers waiting for the next bus. 

Dinowitz says he’s seen it much worse, with commuters waiting 45 minutes in all as they wait for an available bus. 

“The present situation on West 231st Street is unacceptable,” he wrote. “For the MTA to force more residents to use mass transit by instituting higher automobile tolls as families struggle to make ends meet, but fail to provide adequate public transit service, is unconscionable.” 

Adding additional buses would go a long way towards making the commute of many of his constituents more bearable and would encourage more people to use mass transit, Dinowitz claims. 

“Clearly there’s a need there,” he said in a phone interview. “If public policy is to encourage people to take public transit, then the MTA needs to provide public transit.”

UPDATE: Check out this Yelp review of the Bx7