Buses

Tonight: Speak Up for Better 125th St. Bus Service at Bill Perkins Town Hall

Spurred by transit activists demanding improvements to 125th Street buses that often crawl slower than walking speed, DOT and MTA have been moving forward with a project to improve bus service along the major crosstown corridor. But last month, State Senator Bill Perkins sent DOT a letter [PDF] in which he said Select Bus Service improvements were a "failure" and demanded that "the agency slow down" the process of bringing better service to bus riders on 125th Street.

By Stephen Miller

2:05 PM EDT on May 23, 2013

Spurred by transit activists demanding improvements to 125th Street buses that often crawl slower than walking speed, DOT and MTA have been moving forward with a project to improve bus service along the major crosstown corridor. But last month, State Senator Bill Perkins sent DOT a letter [PDF] in which he said Select Bus Service improvements were a “failure” and demanded that “the agency slow down” the process of bringing better service to bus riders on 125th Street.

Tonight, Perkins is hosting an “Emergency Town Hall Meeting” about buses on 125th Street. DOT Manhattan Borough Commissioner Margaret Forgione will give a presentation, followed by a rebuttal from the 125th Street Business Improvement District, Disabled In Action of Metropolitan New York, and members of Community Boards 9, 10, 11, and 12. In his letter to DOT, Perkins said that “issues and concerns” raised by some of these groups “are not being adequately responded to or respected.”

In the meeting flyer [PDF], Perkins says there are “major changes coming soon to 125th Street” and encourages people to “come and share your concerns, opinions, ideas and alternative proposals before it’s too late.” In his April letter to DOT, Perkins did not put forth any suggestions for changes that would provide improvements for bus riders.

The meeting is from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at United House of Prayer for All People, 2320 Frederick Douglass Boulevard. Perkins’s office is asking attendees to RSVP by calling his office at (212) 222-7315.

Stephen Miller

In spring 2017, Stephen wrote for Streetsblog USA, covering the livable streets movement and transportation policy developments around the nation. From August 2012 to October 2015, he was a reporter for Streetsblog NYC, covering livable streets and transportation issues in the city and the region. After joining Streetsblog, he covered the tail end of the Bloomberg administration and the launch of Citi Bike. Since then, he covered mayoral elections, the de Blasio administration's ongoing Vision Zero campaign, and New York City's ever-evolving street safety and livable streets movements.

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