Commuters, local organization wants to speed up bus commutes on Utica Avenue
Commuters in Crown Heights like Maahi Gupta say while the bus is normally on time, the long ride is what eats up her day.
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Commuters and local transportation advocacy group Rider's Alliance want to see faster bus commutes along certain routes of Utica Avenue.
Commuters in Crown Heights like Maahi Gupta say while the bus is normally on time, the long ride is what eats up her day.
“I've just started putting one hour behind every commitment knowing that something's going to go wrong.
But yeah, if that cuts down, that's going to save me a lot of time. My employer saves a lot of time," said Gupta.
It comes after plans to improve commutes along Flatbush Avenue bus routes.
Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director for Rider's Alliance, says Utica Avenue should be next.
“Utica is an even more important bus corridor than Flatbush because it doesn't follow a subway route. It serves an area of Brooklyn that is pretty far from the subway where people do have to take, you know, a bus to the train. And, you know, we believe that we can save massive amounts of time," said Pearlstein.
Data from Rider's Alliance found riders traveling along Utica Avenue from Dekalb Avenue / Malcolm X to Kings Plaza spend about 44.5 minutes riding. With Bus Rapid Transit Improvements, the data found that could be cut to about 27.4 minutes. Riders like Andrew Smith say it could be valuable time saved.
“I thought the commute was much longer than 44 minutes. I thought it was like an hour. Right now, you can't
get home quick enough to handle what you have to handle for the next day," said Smith.
While there are already some bus lanes and the MTA says some of the buses on the route already have upgrades to improve commute times, Pearlstein says Bus Rapid Transit improvements like priority at intersections can help make a difference when it comes to road congestion.
“Bus routes all across the city, especially those that are most heavily used, especially those that travel through the heart of our neighborhoods, are stuck in slow traffic," said Pearlstein.
