MTA Plans Service Cuts To UWS Bus Line, Report Says

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — An Upper West Side politician is fighting against planned cuts to a neighborhood bus route, neighborhood blog the West Side Rag first reported.

Linda Rosenthal spoke out against the Metropolitan Transit Authority's plan to cut one bus per hour on the M104 bus line during a public hearing on Monday, the West Side Rag reported. Rosenthal claims that the answer to declining bus ridership is to improve service, not cut back on it, according to the report.

"The M104 used to be one of the most popular and well-loved bus routes in the City, but year and year of services cuts have caused riders to flee the bus in droves in search of other more reliable methods of transportation," Rosenthal said in a statement. "This death by a thousand cuts approach to bus infrastructure has rendered the M104 a mere shell of its former self."

The MTA said that cuts to the M104 line would more accurately reflect its current ridership, the West Side Rage reported. The route's ridership numbers dropped from 12,626 daily rides in 2011 to 8,223 daily rides in 2016, according to the report.

The M104 line shuttles passengers up and down Eighth Avenue and Broadway from West 41st to West 129th Streets, according to the MTA website. The route services three neighborhoods, but most stops are located on the Upper West Side.

Read the full West Side Rag article here.

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