Queens Bus Route Redesign: See What MTA Wants To Change For Riders

QUEENS, NY — Get ready to be all aboard — or not — for major Queens bus route changes, riders.

A proposed final plan for the long-awaited Queens Bus Network Redesign unveiled Tuesday includes revamps that MTA officials said will expand all-day service to 200,000 more borough residents and cost $30 million more to operate.

Riders will be asked to sound off on a slew of proposed charges: four new routes, 15 new route labels, eight new 24-hour overnight routes and 27 rush routes.

The plan also includes a new express route, the QM65, that runs from Southeast Queens' Laurelton and Rochdale to downtown Manhattan.

"We believe that this redesign is going to be a tremendous first step to improving service," said Janno Lieber, the MTA's chair and CEO.

Queens has 800,000 bus riders, more than all of Chicago's ridership, Lieber said.

But residents, advocates and officials have long bemoaned problems with the current bus network, from slow speeds to declining reliability.

As bus ridership declined 5 percent between 2014 and 2019, MTA officials began to make moves toward a significant revamp of routes.

The nascent redesign quickly hit bumps as critics lambasted a proposed map as a spate of service cuts. MTA officials hit the brakes in 2020 amid the coronavirus and took a year to take the negative feedback into consideration.

The proposed final plan unveiled Tuesday would expend all-day frequency — that is, buses arriving every 10 minutes or better — to roughly 69 percent of Queens, officials said.

The plan also includes 27 new "rush" routes designed to connect quickly between outer borough neighborhoods and subway stations.

MTA officials soon will conduct outreach in Queens communities, after which an as-yet-unscheduled public hearing will be held on feedback.

People can comment by calling 511 or clicking here.

The proposed plan can be read below.

QBNR Proposed Final Plan 12-12-23 - V2 by Matt Troutman on Scribd