Brooklyn Borough President

BOROUGH PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT ON COMMUTER BUS AGREEMENT ALLOWING THE M.T.A. TO TAKE OVER OPERATIONS OF PRIVATE COMMUTER BUS LINES

For two years, Brooklyn’s riders have been told to take a seat while these takeover negotiations dragged on and on. But the time for sitting is over. Our riders will not have to wait any longer and they will not have to endure any more anxiety over the future of their bus service.

Last fall I urged the City Council to extend the commuter bus franchise agreement to give the City time to find a solution. Now it appears they have done so. As I have urged for years, the City is finally addressing the concerns of Brooklyn residents by transferring local and express bus services from private operators to the MTA, by July 1st of this year. I expect that the MTA will maintain all Brooklyn routes while they provide safe reliable service on clean comfortable buses to Brooklyn riders.

Privately operated, City subsidized bus companies are used by 481,000 Brooklyn local bus passengers and 766,000 Brooklyn express bus passengers annually. Most of these passengers are from Southern Brooklyn communities underserved by mass transit such as Gerritsen Beach, Bay Ridge, Flatlands, Marine Park, Mill Basin, Mill Island, Bergen Beach, Kings Plaza and Canarsie.

I hope that this agreement will maintain existing fares. We will be pressing the MTA to initiate Sunday service in Brooklyn that currently exists on other similar lines elsewhere in the city. This agreement also provides for an MTA Regional Bus Company, which will mix Transit, City and suburban assets and operations. Although I am concerned that Brooklyn and other boroughs may not be adequately represented, we are celebrating what is hopefully a significant achievement for New York City, Brooklyn bus riders and for the MTA.

I look forward to the details of this agreement, while I applaud and congratulate the Mayor, the Governor, Peter Kalikow and Katie Lapp of the MTA, and DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall, for what has been accomplished here today.

I also want to thank our elected officials, including State Senators Martin Golden, Carl Kruger and John Sampson; Assemblymembers Helene Weinstein and Frank Seddio; and Councilmembers Michael Nelson, Lewis Fidler, and Vincent Gentile. This agreement demonstrates what can happen when we all stand together for the benefit of Brooklyn, and all of New York City.