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BOROUGH PRESIDENT DEMANDS WEEKEND SERVICE ON BROOKLYN'S EXPRESS BUS LINES

Markowitz tells the MTA to keep up service on X27 and X28 lines

Today, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz testified before the full board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on the need to continue weekend express bus service on the MTA’s X27 and X28 lines. Markowitz also expressed his support for the MTA’s takeover of the City’s privately operated bus lines and urged the MTA to offer service on those lines seven days a week.

“The elimination of these services is counter-intuitive,” said Borough President Markowitz. “We are investing billions for improving transit facilities and service to increase transit use and reduce auto congestion and we are also providing special services to the elderly and physically challenged. The elimination of weekend express bus routes is counter to our efforts to increase transit use and make our society more mobile.”

Markowitz noted that gaps in subway service require walks that are too long for the elderly and physically challenged, and that bus routes such as the X27, X28 and X29 are among the most highly utilized MTA express bus routes in the city. These lines are often the only means of transit to other parts of the city for those in Brooklyn communities such as Bay Ridge, Fort Hamilton, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach, Gravesend, Coney Island, Sea Gate and Brighton Beach, as well as Homecrest, Midwood and Kensington.

The Borough President also stated that Brooklyn contributes generously to the MTA’s coffers through mass transit riders and tolls on three bridges, including the Verrazano, which produces more revenue than any bridge in the city. And according to recent statistics Brooklyn also generated the largest increase in subway riders and had the largest bus ridership of any borough.