Bronx, NY – After hearing from MTA NYC Transit officials, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, State Senator Jeffrey Klein, Council Member Andrew Cohen, and Bronx Community Board 8 Traffic & Transportation Committee Chair Michael Heller declared the MTA’s recent efforts to improve service on the Bx7 and Bx10 bus lines to be promising first steps but insisted that more permanent measures must be implemented to address serious overcrowding issues on the two routes.

For several years, service on the Bx7 and Bx10 bus lines has been plagued by delays, overcrowding, and long waits, particularly during the morning and evening rush hours. In August, Assemblyman Dinowitz and State Senator Klein held a press conference at the West 231st Street stop, demanding that the MTA take steps to improve service. While, over the past several months, the MTA has made a number of short-term changes that have reduced some overcrowding along the Bx7 line, the authority has not yet changed bus schedules or permanently added buses to either line. Assemblyman Dinowitz and his colleagues in government are adamant that lasting changes must be undertaken to truly fix the problem.

Assemblyman Dinowitz said, “Delays and overcrowding on the Bx7 and Bx10 bus lines will never be truly resolved without permanent changes. While I credit the MTA for listening to the concerns of myself and others in the community and searching for solutions to this problem, I urge the MTA to add additional buses to both routes, as well as investigate the possibility of extending nearby bus lines into the Northwest Bronx to accommodate the thousands of commuters who rely on these public services every week.”

Assemblyman Dinowitz’s recommendations include:

• Permanently add buses to the Bx7 and Bx10 routes.
• Extend the Bx3 up Broadway into Riverdale.
• Extend the M100 from Manhattan into the Bronx or increase service to the Bx20 route.

Senator Jeff Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester) said: “The measures taken by the MTA and transit officials to fix the Bx10 and Bx7 bus lines are great first steps, but they are just that – first steps. More needs to be done to ease congestion and improve the daily commute of countless of Bronx residents. We need these buses to run on time and make the right stops for commuters. After months of trying to solve this, it’s simply unacceptable that on these lines, buses are still too crowded and people are still waiting too long.”

“While the current efforts to improve service on the Bx7 and Bx10 bus lines have had a positive response, I believe our request to permanently add buses to these routes, as well as extend the Bx3 and M100 routes farther north into The Bronx will drastically improve the severe overcrowding conditions commuters are currently experiencing. These improvements, along with the bus countdown clock that will be installed at the West 231st Street bus stop from capital funds I allocated at the beginning of my term will also help relieve the long wait times now that the harsh winter months are approaching,” said Council Member Andrew Cohen.

Michael Heller, Chair of the Traffic & Transportation Committee of Bronx Community Board 8 said, “We were very pleased that the MTA sent senior managers to our Traffic and Transportation Committee, and we hope that spirit of cooperation extends to concrete improvements in services to our community.’

At the invitation of the Bronx Community Board 8 Traffic and Transportation Committee, MTA NYC Transit officials attended the committee meeting in November to explain the steps they have taken in recent months to improve bus service. The MTA officials announced several changes, including: temporarily adding three articulated buses to the Bx7 route between West 231st and West 263rd during weekday evening rush hours; improving communication systems between MTA drivers on each line to minimize bus bunch-ups; and eliminating the practice of having several 1 trains turn around before reaching the Bronx during rush hours, which led to doubly-full trains arriving at the West 231st Street station. At the meeting, the MTA officials agreed to study the recommendations made by Assemblyman Dinowitz and members of the community. Bus schedules are reviewed by the MTA four times annually, with the next change coming this spring.