Recap: Mayor Adams rides the B41!
The fight for faster, more reliable buses got a big boost yesterday when Mayor Adams agreed to a bus ridealong with Riders Alliance members on Flatbush Ave - an important corridor in Brooklyn that has been notoriously congested for years.
Yesterday, Mayor Adams, along with NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, New York City Transit President Richard Davey, and NYC Council Member Rita Joseph took a ride in a tightly packed B41 bus in order to hear directly from riders about the challenges they face every day.
The ridealong comes several months after the Mayor’s promise to surpass the goals in the NYC Streets Plan by implementing all 150 miles of required new bus priority projects designed to improve the average speed of NYC’s buses, the slowest in the country, during the four years of his first administration. Unfortunately, DOT has lagged behind in implementing the first 20 of their required miles this year, completing less than two miles as of today.
As soon as the Mayor’s ride began, we all came face to face with a daily occurrence for many riders, a packed bus that had to delay its departure to allow riders to awkwardly shuffle about and cram together as they boarded and disembarked. It was an immediately effective argument for all-door boarding and a solid example of how a common source of delays for hundreds of thousands of daily riders could be eliminated at the discretion of the MTA by allowing OMNY payments at the rear doors of MTA buses.
Once the B41 made its way to Empire Blvd, a press conference was held where the Mayor, Riders Alliance Executive Director Betsy, member Annette Collins, and NYCT President Davey spoke in support of bus priority improvements. Our members presented the Mayor with a snazzy custom jacket reading ‘NYC Bus Mayor, Keep New York Moving’ with a big ask: to truly embrace his role as a champion for bus riders. He gladly accepted, but declined to wear in the stifling mid-90 degree heat.
Yesterday’s ride was a special opportunity for the Mayor to hear directly from riders about how essential the buses are in getting people to school, work, doctor’s appointments, and all of life’s commitments - and the urgency of delivering the #BetterBuses that riders deserve.
We’re excited to keep up the momentum on #BetterBuses – and we’ll be tracking every mile along the way to 150 miles and holding the Mayor and our elected leaders accountable to their promises!