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BOROUGH PRESIDENT URGES CITY TO STOP PLANS TO CUT WEEKEND EXPRESS BUS SERVICE

Borough President Marty Markowitz is calling on the City to halt its plans to eliminate weekend express bus service from Southern Brooklyn into Manhattan. BM-1 Mill Basin, BM-2 Canarsie, BM-3 King’s Bay, BM-4 Gerritsen Beach and BQM-1 are being targeted for closure which could leave thousands of Brooklynites stranded and with very few transportation options into Manhattan on Saturdays. Borough President Markowitz has been pressing the Department of Transportation to meet with Command Bus, which operates the routes, to achieve the targeted savings without ending weekend service

“I am confident that there are efficiencies, such as adjustment to weekday peak and off-peak service on these and other routes, that will produce savings while substantially preserving this service,” said Borough President Markowitz. “To eliminate weekend service, without any effort to look for savings elsewhere, is a disservice to residents who rely upon it to get to work six days a week. It also is a disservice to the public to ignore the process for considering and enacting such a substantial change in service. The fact that the City is experiencing financial hardship does not justify ignoring the terms of the franchise that binds the City and Command and, most importantly, ensure appropriate public awareness and participation.”

The Franchise & Concession Review Committee, which is chaired by the Mayor’s office, provides that there can be no substantial change in service until after a thorough pubic review. These requirements include, among other things, at least 60 days written notice of the proposed substantial change by the carrier to DOT and the members of the FCRC, the scheduling of a public hearing by DOT in the borough most effected, and a post-hearing report by DOT on the economic, environmental and/or social impact of the proposed change in service. So far, none of these requirements have been met.