Kellner Calls on MTA to Improve SBS Plans

Assembly Member Micah Z. Kellner responds to the MTA’s latest plans for East Side Select Bus Service

January 20, 2010

New York City – Assembly Member Micah Kellner (D, WFP) today called on the MTA to improve its preliminary plans for Select Bus Service on Manhattan’s east side by including physically separated bus lanes. While the new plans, released on January 15, include better siting of stops – addressing pedestrian safety concerns Assembly Member Kellner had raised in a letter to the MTA and the Department of Transportation last September – they do not depict bus lanes that are physically separated from traffic in order to prevent other vehicles from blocking the lanes.

Assembly Member Kellner said:

“In the fall, I was concerned about pedestrian safety with the potential siting of SBS stops on First and Second Avenues at East 79th and 86th Streets, across the street from their existing local stops. I wrote to the MTA and DOT and asked them to find a way to ensure that future SBS and existing local stops were on the same block on these routes, so I was very pleased to see that reflected in the draft designs that were unveiled last week. My remaining concern is the lack of physically separated bus lanes. This is a big negative impact on the quality of service that SBS can deliver. While I appreciate the need to address the needs of businesses that rely on deliveries, there are other ways to do this. The primary goal of SBS must be to provide mass transit consumers with uninterrupted, speedy service along the First and Second Avenue corridors – this should be the priority over all other small inconveniences.”

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