By Kelsey Durham
Lawmakers and civic leaders gathered in Bayside last week to announce a half-million dollar funding allocation in the recently adopted state budget that will allow the MTA to conduct a bus restoration study in northeast Queens.
In a study set to take place over the course of a year, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will look at factors such as ridership, current bus routes and the lines that were cut in 2010 at the height of the agency’s financial crisis and will determine if changes can be made to benefit residents in the northeastern part of the borough.
State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside), who secured the funding during the budget-making process earlier this year, said the study will address a growing lack of transportation options his constituents face. His district covers Whitestone, Bayside, Bay Terrace, College Point, Douglaston, Little Neck, Flora Park and parts of Jamaica and Flushing.
“This area has been devastated by cuts,” Avella said. “And even before we were totally under-served.”
Avella said most of the few buses that do run through his 11th Senate District run east to west, and not enough go from north to south to take riders up to the Malba and College Point neighborhoods he also represents. He said many of the people who live in northeast Queens neighborhoods rely on public transportation to get to work and school, and shrinking bus routes have made it harder than ever for residents to get around.
State Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D-Flushing) referred to her 25th Assembly District as a “transit desert” and said the people she represents endure the same struggles.
“There is not a single subway or train stop anywhere in my district,” said Rozic, whose area stretches from the edge of Flushing Meadows Corona Park to just east of the Cross Island Parkway in Little Neck. “People here rely heavily on bus service, and after the devastating cuts of 2010, my constituents have made it clear that the MTA has failed them. This study will deliver for the communities across northeast Queens who really need this.”
According to Avella’s legislation that secured the money, the study was set to start immediately after the budget passed, but he said the MTA is in charge of hiring a contractor and the study will not begin until the agency finds one. Upon completion, the MTA will give a report to the Senate and Assembly as well as the chairmen of the transportation committees inside both bodies of government so legislators can decide how to proceed.
Henry Euler, first vice president of the Auburndale Improvement Association, praised the efforts of legislators to bring a transportation study to the area and said it will go a long way to help show that people in his area of Queens are in need of better transportation.
“We don’t have subways here so we rely on buses, and it’s important to have adequate service,” he said. “I’m very happy with this initiative.”
Avella said the study will include every neighborhood in his Senate district and said he hopes to see the project up and running soon.
“The study is simple but could be dramatic in effect,” he said.+
Reach reporter Kelsey Durham at 718-260-4573 or by e-mail at kdurham@cnglocal.com.
