By Philip Newman
It is the second of the seven companies to be taken over by MTA Bus Co. The first was Liberty Lines, an express service, acquired Jan. 3″We have a few items to be signed and some paper work to be completed, but we expect to bring Queens Surface under our operation by this Sunday,” Thomas Savage, president of the MTA Bus Co., told a meeting of the New York City Transit Authority Tuesday.Barry Feinstein, chairman of the Bus and Subway Committee of the TA, along with several other committee members, commended Savage for his efforts toward the takeover of the seven lines serving Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn. “Bringing in Queens Surface will mean about 40 percent of the private carriers are under the MTA Bus Co.,” Savage said. The MTA established the bus division to operate the seven companies now being assimilated in stages.Queens Surface, based in Flushing and owned by Myra Burke, transports more than 43,000 riders daily and is the largest of the seven private lines. It operates 19 express and local routes in Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx.Queens Surface began operations with horse-drawn coaches before the Civil War.Green Lines and New York Bus Lines are scheduled to be taken over by March 26 and Jamaica Bus, Triboro Coach and Command Bus Lines are to become part of the MTA's operation by April 30.The seven bus lines carry 400,000 riders daily, nearly 350,000 of them in Queens. Commuters have complained for years about deteriorating buses and longer and longer waits, particularly in eastern Queens, an area lacking subway service.City Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) held a series of public hearings last year to investigate the missed deadlines for the takeover and what MTA critics say is a lack of recognition of the urgency on the part of the city and transit officials in bringing about the takeover. Some of the many people who testified at the hearings told of hardships endured by patrons of the private buses, including serious overcrowding, long waits and an incident in which a bus operator was beaten by an irate passenger.Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 136.
