By Sam Schwartz
Dear Transit Sam, While waiting for the M1 or M6 buses, especially going downtown on Fifth Ave. in Midtown/Uptown or on Broadway at 8th St., there seem to be an extraordinary number of express buses to Brooklyn and Staten Island. I can understand the great number of these buses during rush hours, but sometimes it’s late at night or on weekends (forget about the M1 at those times), and these buses are running with practically no passengers (while I wait for ages for an M6 to take me home to the Financial District). Are studies done to see what ridership is during “off hours?” I’m sure it’s expensive to run those buses, so if a sufficient number of people are not riding, why so many buses? Will I also be affected by the upcoming service cuts?
Patricia, Liberty Street
Dear Patricia,
By the end of June the question might become, why so few buses? The M.T.A. is cutting back substantially on all its routes and unfortunately, the situation you describe in your letter will only get worse. Both your buses, the M1 and M6, are on the chopping block, as are some of the 33 express bus routes that run along Fifth Ave. (which is likely the reason you’re seeing so many buses to Brooklyn and Staten Island). Facing a devastating budget hole, the M.T.A. was forced to eliminate or cut back on service dramatically (I would’ve preferred tolls on the East River Bridges to help offset the costs to riders). Both the M1 and M6 run on streets serviced by other bus lines and will save the agency about $3.4 million. While ridership data is analyzed during all hours of operation through on board collections and fare boxes, it doesn’t necessarily correlate to a service change. But, with the need to cut somewhere, ridership levels, other bus lines on a particular route and public input all contributed to the service plan that will eventually be implemented at the end of June. Here’s the rundown on the M1 and M6 service changes come June 28th:
• The M1 on weekends will only operate north of 106th St., with the M2/M3/M4 buses running via Fifth and Madison Aves. Overnight M1 service from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. will also be discontinued. Other times, it will run on the same route as the M2/M3 northbound between Cooper Square/8th St. and Grand Central. The weekday M1 extension south of 8th St. to South Ferry will be replaced by the M5. • The M6 and the weekday M1 extension to South Ferry will be replaced by an extended M5. While this will be the only route between Houston and 59th Sts., this has the potential to lead to more regular service. Transit Sam
Sam Schwartz, a former first deputy commissioner of city transportation, is president and C.E.O. of Sam Schwartz Engineering, a traffic engineering consulting firm to private and public entities including the Port Authority at the World Trade Center site. Send Transit Sam your traffic and transit concerns to TransitSam@downtownexpress.com or Transit Sam, c/o SSE, 611 Broadway, Suite 415, N.Y., N.Y., 10012.
