Mayor Bloomberg Announces First Staten Island Select Bus Service Route скачать в хорошем качестве

Mayor Bloomberg Announces First Staten Island Select Bus Service Route

Mayor Bloomberg, Transportation Commissioner Sadik-Khan and MTA Chairman and CEO Lhota Preview First Staten Island Select Bus Service Route New S79 Select Bus Service to Reduce Travel Times and Improve Service for 32,000 Daily Riders along Hylan Boulevard, the Borough's Busiest Bus Corridor Select Bus Service is a Part of PlaNYC, the City's Long-Term Sustainability Agenda Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chairman and CEO Joseph Lhota today previewed Staten Island's first Select Bus Service route. The new Select Bus Service line will bring dedicated bus lanes to Hylan Boulevard's S79 line as well as other bus routes along the boulevard, and faster and more reliable bus service for commuters between the Staten Island Mall and Bay Ridge, Brooklyn -- the closest subway access which thousands of Staten Islanders rely upon every day. This new route, which launches on Sunday, September 2, marks the City's fourth Select Bus Service line following its establishment on Fordham Road in the Bronx in 2008; on First and Second Avenues in Manhattan in 2010; and on 34th Street in Manhattan last November. These services have each reduced bus travel times by approximately 20 percent and increased ridership by about 10 percent. An estimated 32,000 Staten Island bus passengers ride along Hylan Boulevard routes each day, with about 9,000 daily riders on the S79 line alone. Improved bus service in all five boroughs is a critical goal under PlaNYC, the Mayor's long-term sustainability agenda, and is the result of extensive cooperation and collaboration between the Bloomberg Administration and the MTA. The Mayor made the announcement at the Yukon Avenue/Richmond Avenue S79 Select Bus Service stop, where he was joined by Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro. The new service streamlines the number of stops from 80 to just 22 along the 16-mile route, which runs from the Staten Island Mall on Richmond Avenue and crosses the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to 86th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Other major stops include the Eltingville Transit Center and Staten Island Railway station and New Dorp Lane and Clove Road on Hylan Boulevard. About 4,000 of the S79's current passengers travel to or from the route's two endpoints alone, and local service to bypassed stops will be retained on the S59 and S78 lines. The service will also provide free transfers to commuters using the R train in Bay Ridge. Unlike other Select Bus Routes corridors, the S79 Select Bus Service line will not employ off-board fare collection, as boarding times were determined not to be a primary cause for bus delays. Local and express bus routes along Hylan Boulevard served 32,000 riders last year, amounting to one quarter of the borough's 123,000 bus riders. This new service is expected to reduce travel times along the S79 route by more than 18 percent -- from about 80 minutes to 65 minutes -- and up to a 16 percent decrease -- 13 minutes -- in travel times for other buses along the S79 line. Additional bus routes along the corridor will also benefit from the dedicated bus lanes and improved signal timing implemented for this project. The Department of Transportation and the MTA undertook an extensive public process, including more than a dozen meetings and briefings with a range of civic and local groups and elected officials since summer 2010, tailoring a project to enhance travel times for buses while balancing other traffic needs in the borough. New left-turn lanes have also been added to the route, as have five new pedestrian refuge islands, seven new bus shelters, as well as improved concrete bus areas to prevent wear on street pavement and sidewalks to make getting to and from the bus stop safer and more convenient. Four miles of red bus lanes were painted and over a mile of the Hylan Boulevard has been resurfaced from curb to curb, benefiting bus passengers and drivers alike. Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island Thursday, August 30th, 2012