Williamsburg shuttle bus route to shrink as L train slowdown goes mostly unnoticed
Image courtesy of MTA.
The MTA’s long-dreaded Canarsie Tunnel repairs are finally underway, and we’re all still here. And, as AMNew York reports, we’ve even discovered other subway lines that function similarly enough to the beloved L train to meet our transportation needs. The result of the current transit non-apocalypse is that at least one of the backup solutions–the “Williamsburg Link” shuttle bus service intended to mitigate an anticipated crush of stranded riders–is being nixed and replaced by a shorter route after experiencing “extremely low” ridership.
MTA officials have announced that, beginning Saturday, they will replace the B91 and B92 shuttle service with a shortened B91A route that will connect the Marcy Avenue station with the area around Bedford Avenue, as it appears that most riders are getting on the train at Marcy Ave. instead of starting their transit journey with the bus. It appears that, according to MTA data, most L train riders have been using other subway lines during service changes. J and M trains have had about 60 percent more riders, but the Williamsburg Link bus has been serving only two or three riders per trip.
According to NYC Transit president Andy Byford, “New Yorkers are savvy and quick to adapt, which has led them to quickly change their behavior and move to other subway lines while the L has reduced service on nights and weekends. We always said we would tweak our alternative service plan as riders settled in to new patterns, and by doing so we will be able to use our limited resources on improving service in other ways.”
The new B91A bus has added stops at Driggs Avenue/Grand Street and Roebling Street/Grand Street. The bus will run every 8 minutes during peak ridership times; overnights and early mornings the bus will operate every 10 minutes.
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