Seems that the MTA is playing hardball and will not provide shuttle buses to those left stranded without a subway station (Ft. Hamilton and 15th Street F trains stations) starting next week.
My friend just heard from City Councilman Brad Lander’s office. Lander met with BP Marty Markowitz, Jim Brennan and the MTA and they will not add shuttle buses or increase routes along the B61 at all.
They are adding bike parking at Church and adding a B35 bus stop at the Church Street station. Neither solution does anything for anyone wanting to board at 15th Street or Fort Hamilton. Bad news.
Okay, you say. So those commuters have to walk to the 9th Street or Church Avenue stations. What’s the big deal? Or they should just get on the train going in the other direction to Church Avenue and then get on the Manhattan-bound trains from there.
Think again.
It’s really not the best solution for kids, for instance, who take the subway to schools in other parts of Brooklyn or Manhattan. A friend’s daughter takes the F train from 15th Street to Fourth Avenue and then switches to the R train there. The proposal would mean that she, at 12-years-old, should get on the train at 15th and take it out to Church Avenue (which is a bit of a trek on the tracks) and then cross over to the Manhattan bound tracks and get the F back in the right direction to Fourth Avenue.
This is a hardship for the people who rely on the 15th Street and Ft. Hamilton stations. This is a big inconvenience. This is a lot of extra time on the subway for students and other commuters.
Solution? Well, how about shuttle service. The commuters over there really want that so why is the MTA being so tight fisted about it. When you take away (albeit for much needed improvements) you gotta give something back.
Shuttle buses are what the commuters who use those stations want.
What’s amazing is how, in the past, it was totally vague whether or not something was an “express bus” or a “local bus.” So when headed to Court Street in Carroll Gardens I found myself headed in a very express manner over to Church.
Tough to be an F train person now.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever seen on a shuttle bus, or a MTA bus–or the subway?
Share your stories at http://www.subwaysubculture.blogspot.com
Shuttle buses are enough of a annoyance on major streets. On the little streets of Windsor Terrace they would be a disaster.
If a kid isn’t mature enough to make that change (or to walk a few extra blocks where the stations are so close together) s/he shouldn’t be on the train alone, because there are occasional surprise delays, reroutes, and trains taken out of service in the subway system, which any rider has to negotiate–much more of a difficulty than a new route which a parent and child could practice a few times.
Agree with above comment. Park Slopers, use your legs. Those of us, like in Kensington, when we lost the B23 bus, now have to walk either to the Q or the F. Big Deal! And so what? it’s only for a few months. Get off your asses and walk for a change.
Park Slopers really need to get over themselves here. This happens all over the city all the time, and the MTA doesn’t supply shuttle buses. Ask people who live up near Dyckman St. how they feel, and they’re much further away from the nearest stations.
Either you can have a viaduct that might collapse or you can have a system in better repair. Walking ten minutes to 7th Ave. or Church Ave. won’t kill anyone.