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BP MARKOWITZ STATEMENT ON PROPOSED MTA CUTS TO B75, B71, B37 BUS LINES
“The MTA imposing such drastic service cuts on the people of New York—particularly in Brooklyn where residents depend on their buses—is simply unacceptable. The MTA justifies its decision to eliminate service on the B75, B71 and B37 buses because it claims these lines either duplicate existing subway service (namely, the F, G and R trains) or are underutilized by the public. Well, I couldn’t disagree more!
Service on these buses is crucial for people who cannot, due to disability or mobility impairment, access nearby subway lines. Many of the nearly 9,000 people who use these three buses every day are unable to make it up and down flights of stairs to catch the train. In fact, there is not one single ADA-accessible subway station along the entire B75 and B71 routes. And there are only two accessible stations along the B37 line. Cutting these buses is a discriminatory act against the most vulnerable residents of our city. Additionally, the B71 is one of the only transit options for people living and working along the Columbia Waterfront—we cannot allow cuts in its service to disrupt thousands of people’s commutes.
I implore the MTA to find alternative funding solutions. The MTA must draw from throughout its 12-county service region and find solutions that spread the burden fairly. I continue to support ideas advocated by members of City Council to temporarily allocate capital budget money to cover the shortfall. I also support dedicating a new lottery to raise transit funds, imposing further cuts to MTA administrative costs and making cost-saving, profit-making consolidations to the MTA’s property holdings.” |
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