DOT To Buy 450 Private Co. Buses

The Department of Transportation made a surprise announcement Thursday, agreeing to cough up funds to purchase new buses for the citys seven private companies aging fleets.
During a City Council transportation hearing, DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall announced that $156 million in federal funds allocated to the city to buy private commuter buses and large capital purchases money that for years was bundled away and never used would now pay for 450 new buses.
"I am pleased the city is finally addressing the longstanding needs of 400,000 private bus riders by purchasing these new buses," said Councilman John Liu, the chairman of the City Councils Transportation Committee, pointedly noting, though, that the decision was long past due.
The majority of these new buses will go into service in approximately two years. Until then, Weinshall said the city intends to purchase 25 out-of-commission MTA buses for use by the private companies, at a bargain rate of $7,000.
The news was especially good for Queens, which relies heavily on private lines to fill its wide gaps in public transportation. Five private bus lines operate in Queens, but passengers routinely complain about their poor service, erratic pickup times and lack of functioning equipment.
"Its nice to see the city has finally recognized this critical need and is starting to address it," said Jamie Van Bremer, a spokesman for Transit Alliance, which represents the Triboro Coach, Green Line and Jamaica bus companies all of which operate in Queens.
Van Bremer blamed the boroughs poor bus service on the citys failure, for years, to upgrade the private companies fleet.
"Clearly these are buses in desperate need of replacement," he said.
Only a few weeks ago it came to light that the city had, for years, withheld the $156 million, storing the funds away while it negotiated a takeover of the bus lines with the MTA. Currently, the city subsidizes the seven private companies with more than $100 million a year to operate city-owned buses in Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn. However, since December 2002, Mayor Bloomberg has pushed to have the MTA absorb the private companies lines.
Thursdays decision reverses previous statements made by Bloomberg that the funds would not be used until takeover negotiations with the MTA were finalized.Still hoping for a resolution with the state agency, Weinshall noted that the new buses would be fitted to MTA specifications.