By Philip Newman
The MTA will add more than 2,000 ultra-modern buses to its fleet with the first 75 of them going to Queens, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday.
The state of New York contributed $8.3 billion for the new buses, adding to the MTA’s $26.1 billion to pay for the new fleet.
By the end of 2017 all express buses will be equipped with Wi-fi and USB-charging ports, the MTA said.
The transit agency, which oversees the buses, subways and commuter railroads, said “75 of the new buses will make their debut in the second and third quarters of this year in Queens, and over the next two years another 70 buses will begin operating in Brooklyn, 209 in the Bronx and 18 in Manhattan.”
The rest of the new buses will be parceled out to all the boroughs between 2018 and 2020.
“Digital information screens will also be provided to customers with travel information to reduce anxiety about missing stops and better enable customers to plan and arrive at destinations on time,” the MTA said.
Cuomo said the new buses reflect a new approach by the MTA.
“We’re reimagining the MTA to improve services for all New Yorkers,” the governor said. “Today’s world demands connectivity and we’re meeting that challenge with state-of-the-art buses and a major overhaul of the MTA’s bus fleet.
