By Alan J. Gerson
The city Dept. of Transportation has done the right thing by withdrawing its ill-advised plan to locate buses on West St. in Tribeca. The process by which this happened, however, belies two major systemic problems with the way D.O.T. is approaching the situation of bus saturation in Lower Manhattan. First, D.O.T. should have conducted meaningful community outreach before the plan was formulated. Presenting the plan to the community for the first time two weeks before its proposed implementation, implied a fait accompli and was disrespectful. It also meant that D.O.T. did not have some very important facts when it made its decisions. Secondly, it makes no sense to treat every bus issue as an isolated problem. I have long called for a master bus management plan for Lower Manhattan. It should be obvious to everyone by now that we need one.
Community input on transportation decisions is critical. The best transportation decisions are made when D.O.T. experts work with community leaders and residents, who know the situation on the ground. It was only at a meeting that I organized where D.O.T. learned about the problems of the proposed location’s proximity to major air intake vents for the Borough of Manhattan Community College. They also learned of other potential harms to businesses and residents, which collectively, were enough to convince them that their plan needed to be rethought.
While we are rethinking this bus issue, wouldn’t it make sense to begin the process of creating a Lower Manhattan bus management plan? The Port Authority chief, Chris Ward, is already on record from our hearings as supporting the idea. The mayor agreed last year during the congestion pricing discussions that this was a good idea. Tour buses, commuter buses, long distance discount buses and casino buses are already saturating our Lower Manhattan neighborhoods. Already the buses that wall off Pearl St. must be moved to stop harm being done to residents there. Already, we have more long distance bus passengers loading and disembarking in Chinatown than at the Port Authority bus terminal. Every two minutes another tour bus rumbles down Bleecker St. What happens when the 9/11 memorial opens in 2011?
We need a short and long-term plan for dealing with bus saturation in Lower Manhattan. We need the cost-efficiency that will come with a dedicated bus facility (at an appropriate location which could include sites outside of the district). Our streets are choked with all manner of buses already and we are looking at a major bump in Downtown tourism once the 9/11 memorial opens. What is the D.O.T. waiting for?
Alan J. Gerson is city councilmember of the First District and represesnts Lower Manhattan.
