Details of Proposed Bus Service Expansion

2:26 PM EDT on July 12, 2007

The other day I noted that one of the most destructive pieces of misinformation floating around the New York State Assembly is this line from Assembly Member Richard Brodsky's congestion pricing report:

The City has no plan to improve mass transit prior to the implementation of congestion pricing. This is a serious if not fatal defect in the proposal in the opinion of both supporters and opponents of congestion pricing.

Brodsky's claim is incorrect. New York City and the MTA plan to make extensive bus and ferry service improvements prior to the start of any congestion pricing system. The service expansion would be paid for by the $500 million federal grant that New York City has applied for.

Some of the details I reported in my story, however, were not entirely correct either. I reported that the City requested $306 million for 400 new buses in its grant application to the federal government. Actually, the City requested $258 million for 367 new buses on 36 routes in 22 neighborhoods as well as additional funds for the ferry and ferry improvements. The City also requested $98 million for the creation of a Bus Rapid Transit system, according to sources at the New York City Dept. of Transportation.

Below, and also for download, is a map and a list detailing exactly where all of these buses improvements would be made if the state legislature approves Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan ahead of Monday's US DOT grant application deadline.

Aaron Naparstek

AARON NAPARSTEK is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparsteks journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. Naparstek is the author of "Honku: The Zen Antidote for Road Rage" (Villard, 2003), a book of humorous haiku poetry inspired by the endless motorist sociopathy observed from his apartment window. Prior to launching Streetsblog, Naparstek worked as an interactive media producer, pioneering some of the Web's first music web sites, online communities, live webcasts and social networking services. Naparstek is currently in Cambridge with his wife and two young sons where he is enjoying a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. He has a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Naparstek is a co-founder of the Park Slope Neighbors community group and the Grand Army Plaza Coalition. You can find more of his work here: http://www.naparstek.com.