New Routes, Faster Buses Coming To Astoria, LIC Under MTA Plan

ASTORIA, QUEENS — A contentious borough-wide bus redesign plan got a revamp this week, as the MTA (once again) sets its sights on speeding up commutes and modernizing redundant bus routes for hundreds of thousands of weekly riders in Queens — including in Astoria and Long Island City.

The plan to redesign Queens' sprawling network of 107 bus lines was first announced in 2019 as part of the transit agency's sweeping initiative to overhaul the city's subway and bus systems.

Pitched as a yearlong project, the MTA had to hit the brakes on the redesign in 2020 amid the pandemic — but not before every single Queens City Council member (plus transit advocates and local residents) lambasted the proposed map as a series of service cuts (a claim that the MTA hotly rejected).

The new plan, announced on Tuesday, takes into consideration the negative feedback — as well as 11,000 comments from the MTA's first round of public engagement — now offering 85 regular bus routes in Queens, up from the 77 in the old draft and the 82 that currently traverse the borough. Besides the new routes, many stops will be eliminated in order to increase speeds.

Here are some of the biggest changes coming to Western Queens:

Q66 cuts out Astoria, replaced by Q63

The Q66 bus will maintain much of its Northern Boulevard route but remove the segments that ran along 36th Avenue and 21st streets in Astoria and Dutch Kills.

That segment will be absorbed into the new Q63 line, which will also run along Northern Boulevard and Broadway before reaching Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst, filling in gaps in the existing bus network.

Vernon Boulevard bus service is preserved, on a new line

An initial plan to shift the Q103 bus away from Vernon Boulevard over to 21st Street sparked controversy when it was announced in 2019. Community leaders said the shift would harm residents of the NYCHA Astoria Houses and reduce visits to Socrates Sculpture Park and the Noguchi Museum.

Under the new plan, Vernon Boulevard will keep bus service between 31st Avenue in Astoria and 40th Avenue in Long Island City — albeit under a new bus line, the Q39. That line will continue south into Maspeth.

Further south, the Q103's Hunters Point segment will be replaced by the new Q69 bus route, running along Vernon between 49th and 46th avenues — though some service will be lost near the Queensboro Bridge.

A new Roosevelt Island-bound bus

The Q102, which now serves Roosevelt Island via 31st Street, will be discontinued and replaced by the Q104.

As it does presently, the Q104 will run along Broadway. Instead of terminating at 11th Street, however, the Q104 will head south along Vernon Boulevard and then take the Roosevelt Island Bridge.

Q100 is no more

The Q100, which now runs along 21st Street and 20th Avenue on its way to Rikers Island, will be discontinued. In its place, Rikers Island service will be handled by the Q105, while the Q69 will continue running along 21st Street (see below).

The Q105's 31st Street route will largely resemble the soon-to-be-discontinued Q102, but with some added service north of Astoria Boulevard.

Steinway Street swaps Q101 for Q68

The Q101 bus that now runs along Steinway Street will be replaced by a new line, the Q68.

However, instead of running into Manhattan like the Q101, the Q68 will terminate in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, forcing Manhattan commuters to transfer to the Q32 or Q60 lines.

Q18, Q19, Q60, Q69, Q104 stay largely the same

Several neighborhood bus lines are staying largely the same.

The Q18 bus will continue to run along 30th Avenue before heading south into Maspeth. The Q19 will maintain its Astoria Boulevard route, though it will also absorb the existing Q15A, adding stops in northeastern Queens.

The Q32 and Q60 will keep their routes between Queens and Midtown Manhattan, but lose some stops in order to increase speeds.

The Q69 will largely keep its route along Ditmars Boulevard and 21st Street, but get a new extension into Hunters Point area of Long Island City — linking with the NYC Ferry terminal and Long Island Rail Road stations.

MTA brass lauded the new plan, saying it will improve speed and efficiency for riders in the World's Borough, who often depend on buses as their sole public transit option.

"The Queens New Draft Plan is the third to be released, but in some ways, may be the most important of the five because Queens has, historically, had less subway service relative to its size and population than the other boroughs," acknowledged MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber.

Transit officials said that the plan will cut an unspeciied number of bus stops in order to reduce commuting time (each stop axed could save 20 seconds of travel time, officials estimate), introduce so-called "rush" service for buses that connect riders to subway lines, and preserve some Sunday service — a major sticking point of the last plan, which nixed Sunday service.

The plan includes 20 new routes, plus 11 "retired" routes, which will either be combined with an existing one or incorporated into a new route. All told, 17 lines will be extended, seven shortened, and five incorporated into existing routes, plans show.

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards echoed Lieber's sentiment, speaking to the importance of reliable bus service in Queens.

"Queens families rely heavily on bus service that can often lack in efficiency and reliability, especially in our many transit deserts, so it could not be more important that we get this redesign of our borough’s bus network right," he said, urging residents in Queens to familiarize themselves with the plan and give feedback.

To give feedback, residents of Astoria and Long Island City's Community District 1 can join a public workshop on April 18 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. (register here). Neighboring District 2 will get its own workshop April 21, followed by Queens's remaining 12 community districts (neighbors who can't make their community district meeting can attend a different meeting, the MTA said).

Spanish and Mandarin language assistance will be provided, the MTA said.

Interactive local and express maps of the proposed bus networks also include a comment feature, which neighbors can use to directly post opinions on proposed bus routes and stops.

Find out more about the new redesign plan, and how to get involved, here.