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Confined to a wheelchair since 1986, when a brain aneurysm weakened the left side of her body, Anita Apt, a tough-minded, sprightly woman who finds inspiration in some unusual people former wrestler Hulk Hogan being one has gone through years of physical therapy to the point where she now lives an active, independent life in Forest Hills and advocates extensively for disabled rights.
Apt has a Bachelors degree from Queens College, and she would like to study neuropsychology at her alma maters graduate school, but she refuses.
"Why would I go to school and tell a teacher I was late for an exam because the driver didnt have a lift or he passed me by?" Apt complained. "I will not pay for school and register for classes unless I know I will get to school on time."
She, like many residents in Queens, with and without disabilities, has the misfortune of relying on bus services run by four private companies Green Lines, Triboro Coach, Command Bus and Queens Surface. These companies are a few of the seven companies that receive subsidies from the city to operate their service. Passengers who use these lines are all too familiar with long waits, crowded buses and frequently inoperable wheelchair lifts.
The public transportation plight is the result of a triangle of squabbling between the city, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and these seven private bus companies that provide supplemental local and express routes to the boroughs underserved by the MTA.
Currently the city, through the Department of Transportation, pays private companies the sum of over $100 million a year to defray some of the operating costs. Yet, since last December, the mayors office has advocated that lines be taken over by the MTA, partially because it believes the state agency could run the lines more efficiently and partially as a means to trim its budget of the meaty sum. The city hoped to have a plan for a takeover by June 30 of this year, but that never materialized and talks between the city, MTA and Governor George Pataki are continuing slowly.
News from the MTA camp has been terse. Tom Kelly, a spokesman for MTA, said that talks are ongoing, but his agency is willing to take over the lines if certain conditions are met. Kelly would not go into specifics but said, "Its a number of factors, including financing." The MTA has stated in the past that it would take over the bus lines on a cost neutral basis.
In the meantime, the private lines, for years, have cried foul that their fleet of buses, which the city owns but they operate, is too small for the population it serves and is aging. The squabbling became more heated last week, when the Transit Alliance, an organization that represents Green Line, Triboro Coaches and Command Bus, announced its clients had filed a lawsuit against the city for, what they purport to be, a deliberate attempt to cripple them in advance of the proposed MTA takeover.
"To put it simply, the city has purposefully undertaken a strategy to destroy our companies," said Jerry Cooper, a chairman of the Transit Alliance, at a news conference announcing the law suit, on the steps of Queens Borough Hall.
The three companies are suing for money they feel they should have been given in the past for out-of-pocket capital expenses that the three companies made to their buses. They are also suing for continued operations expenses and for insuring compensation for their investments, if the lines are transferred over to the MTA.
Transit Alliance said that the lack of bus upgrades has forced service cuts that will affect riders in the coming weeks. Green Bus expects reductions of 15 peak-hour buses and Triboro Coach has already proposed a fall schedule with 43 fewer peak-hour buses on 14 routes. Command Bus has proposed express route reductions of four peak-hour buses.
The mayors office responded to the lawsuit by calling it "scurrilous and without merit." Jordan Barowitz, a spokesman for the mayor, said that the city is currently up to date on its subsidy payments.
"We believe having the MTA take over the private bus lines will result in better service and greater value for New York taxpayers," he said. "The city gives the private bus companies more than $100 million a year in subsidies."
But, the private companies want more than operational subsidies. They would like to see new city-owned buses.
"They want us to upgrade their facilities and their buses," DOT spokesman Tom Cocola said. "The Queens bus companies sent us a list last year, and in a perfect world, with an unlimited budget, every bus should come with air conditioning and wheelchair accessibility." The problem, Cocola explained, is that the city does not have the funding to make those extensive upgrades.
"Its lip service, not bus service," said Apt cheekily about the entire bus fuss.
When it comes to public transportation in the city, whether MTA or private, Apts an aficionado, a bus line doyen. Through her assertion and persistence, bus drivers know her and greet her on a first-name basis. She also knows who to call and howl at if a bus is unable to pick her up.
"I like the MTA buses because I can be spontaneous," said Apt, who can take their routes, which operate 24 hours a day on a timetable, anytime she wants. She, like the city, would like to see the private lines taken over by the MTA.
"MTA buses are up to snuff," concurred Cocola. "They have accordion buses and are better in terms of fuel efficiencies buses that are better equipped in terms of air conditioning and wheelchair accessibility. Maybe in due time, they could have better efficiency of services [than the private lines]."
The Queens Courier accompanied Apt on some of her bus routes last Friday morning to see firsthand what its like for residents, particularly those who cannot access the MTA subways due to a disability or age, to get around in the borough on these private lines.
The first stop, on Queens Boulevard and 75th Avenue, was a short wait for the Q60 line run by Green Buses. It is the route Apt takes to visit her mother. Before the bus even approached, she pointed out a deficiency on this line and all other lines run by private bus companies: guide-a-rides. Although required at all MTAs bus stops, guide-a-rides postings of the lines routes and a time schedule at each stop are nowhere to be found on private circuits. Apt said it deflects blame on the bus companies if they are late, since they are not making any guarantees about pick-up times. In contrast, it burdens passengers waiting at stops, not knowing when a bus will show. When asked about this shortcoming, a Transit Alliance official said it was not the bus companys responsibility but DOTs.
When the bus arrived, the irritation of some passengers was visible at Apts presence. It took five minutes for her to be loaded. Shes grown accustomed to the scowls from passengers but not the bus drivers.
"A bad attitude from drivers sends out a message to passengers that I am holding everybody up," said Apt. In the past, she said, private line bus drivers have treated her poorly because shes held up their schedules.
After riding the Q60 bus for a few minutes down Queens Boulevard, Apt signaled for her stop. The real problems began.
The lift jammed. The bus driver unsuccessfully worked for 10 minutes to get it to move. She then tried radio-ing her dispatcher for some assistance, but her radio didnt work. Luckily, she had her cellphone with her, so she could still call headquarters. She was instructed to restart the bus, which eventually got the lift working, allowing Apt to descend. Meanwhile, during the fiasco, three frustrated passengers exited the bus, preferring to walk rather than wait.
"How can you not have a radio that works?" Apt asked bemusingly. She wondered what a bus operator without a working radio and the luxury of a cellphone would do if there were a serious emergency.
For the rest of our trip, all the buses had working lifts. However, waits at other bus stops, which included another Q60 and a Q65 that ran along Queens Boulevard and Jewel Avenue, took well over 10 minutes. During the wait, the queues grew to 20 to 25 people. When buses came, it would take another 10 minutes to load the bus and operate the lift for Apt.
"Private operators have been ignorant to the needs of the community," said one angry passenger, who wished to remain anonymous, during one of the waits. "When passengers complain, it falls on deaf ears."
For all these problems, the private bus companies represented by Transit Alliance put full blame on the city and DOT for their "chokehold."
"These buses get worse and worse," said a Transit Alliance representative, noting that the average age for company buses is 16 years. "They havent provided new buses. Thats why you end up with overcrowding and not enough buses on the routes."
The representative also noted that Green Buses had delivered a comprehensive plan for wheelchair accessible buses, this summer, but it went unanswered. "We are upset about it [the poor service] as well," said the representative. "People dont complain to the DOT, they complain to us."
Surprisingly, not all private companies operating in Queens are involved in the lawsuit. Queens Surface has followed a different route, preferring talks to litigation.
In a statement about the lawsuit, the companys spokesman, Mike Gill, said, "We want to make it clear that Queens Surface is not a party to the suit filed…by the other independent bus companies." Gill stated that the companys president, Myra Burke, does not believe a lawsuit is the best way to address the subsidy problem. "She would prefer to resolve the issue through discussions with the mayors office or the citys Department of Transportation," said Gill. "Thats the approach the public deserves and thats been missing for too long."
The real challenge for the three parties involved will be the December 31st deadline, when the citys contract with the private companies is up. The missed June 30th deadline for a transfer over to the MTA placed the ability to reach an agreement in question. A Transit Alliance representative warned that if the city fails to push through a deal with MTA in the next few months, then the new year will find the depots shuttered and the city buses idle. If the private companies were to continue to operate, legislation would have to pass the City Council, which has a hearing planned about the bus situation on October 10.
If an MTA deal goes through, the Transit Alliance representative also warned that the state agency would be required to provide job protection for its bus drivers and incorporate them into the Transit Workers Union. When asked if this is what would happen, the MTAs Kelly said, "Thats all part of the negotiations."
However, Barowitz was confident that an agreement would be reached. He said that the city hopes to have something set with the MTA by December 31.
Meanwhile, its the passengers suffering through the long waits and crowded rides.
"Its lousy," groused Henry Key, a Flushing resident who lives near Queens College. "Look how long we are here." He was part of a line that snaked half a block on Queens Boulevard, between 71st and 72nd Avenues, waiting for a bus.
The last stop The Queens Courier waited at with Apt was a Q65 on Jewel Avenue that led back to Queens Boulevard. Apt and this reporter stood for 15 minutes. It had been a long, tiring morning. Instead of continuing to scan the street for our ride home, we did what other wouldbe passengers have done, skipped it and made the journey to our respective destinations without public transportation.
