By Carl Perrera
An Open Letter to the Port Authority,
Please take a look revising the Q48 bus to serve Terminal A (Marine Air Terminal) in LaGuardia Airport and also consider making the Q48 an SBS route.
The eastbound Q48 bus leaving LaGuardia Airport should be rerouted at 102nd Street/Ditmars Boulevard to make a right turn on to Ditmars Boulevard and travel nonstop west along Ditmars Boulevard to 94th Street. Then it should make a left turn at 94th Street to 23rd Avenue and make another left turn at 23rd Avenue.
The Q48 could then travel east along 23rd Avenue to serve three new (proposed) eastbound Q48 bus stops at 94th Street/23rd Avenue, 97th Street/23rd Avenue and 100th Street/23rd Avenue. A westbound Q48 bus stop (toward LaGuardia Airport) also should be added at 100th Street/23rd Avenue as well. These additional Q48 bus stops along 23rd Avenue would provide less walking distance for East Elmhurst passengers traveling to and from Flushing by bus.
As a secondary issue, consideration should also be given to merging the Q48 route with the Q17/Q17 Limited route to provide direct bus service between Jamaica and LaGuardia Airport. This should also include extending the Q17/Limited route from 168th Street to Sutphin Blvd./ Archer Avenue, thus connecting by bus the Sutphin Boulevard Airtrain Station to LaGuardia Airport.
Additionally, if the Q48 bus route is made an SBS route, there would be less of a need for the current proposed LaGuardia Rail Link to Willets Point and a more beneficial LaGuardia rail link plan could be studied.
Any proposed commuter parking or proposed long-term parking operated out of the parking facilitates adjacent to the Mets-Willets Point LIRR and No. 7 Subway stations should be operated by the MTA (not the Port Authority and/or its vendors). That way the revenue derived could be utilized by the MTA to make service improvements to the local bus network within the five boroughs of New York City.
Carl Perrera
Queens Public Transit Committee
