FEBRUARY 10 -- “Slow Ride” is an old rock song recorded in 1975. Now it’s also a description used to disparage New York City Bus Operators who are taking the heat for decisions made by Mayor Mike Bloomberg, the MTA, and the DOT – all who have contributed to what the report says are “painfully slow” bus speeds.
A new NYC Independent Budget Office report “blames the slow rides on heavy traffic, too few bus lanes, and inconsistent enforcement of bus lane rules by the DOT.”
New York City Bus Operators know the blame goes a lot deeper.
TA Surface Division Vice Chair Alexander Kemp goes back to 2010 when the stock market crashed and New York City Transit laid off 500 Bus Operators. Those service cuts were never restored.
“New York City Transit used to have 5 minute headways – now they are approximately 15 minutes. And people who are frustrated waiting for service are kept that way by transit supervision, who monitor, adjust, and control on-time performance,” he says. “If a bus is running late, supervision has the ability to speed the bus up to make schedule. But they don’t want to modify or adjust schedules – because this might incur an extra cost -- and people have to wait.”
“There is no shortage of operators who are available for service. NYCT will go on Twitter and say, “your bus is delayed because we’re operating with the resources we have,” but that obscures the reality, which is that we are short on buses. NYC Transit has been forced to put a large order of electric buses on hold because it lacks charging infrastructure.
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