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| Re: MTA Bus Ridership Dwindles As Subway Gains (234009) | |||
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Re: MTA Bus Ridership Dwindles As Subway Gains |
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Posted by Hank Eisenstein on Thu May 26 14:08:01 2011, in response to Re: MTA Bus Ridership Dwindles As Subway Gains, posted by (SIR) North Shore Line on Thu May 26 11:42:43 2011. The 55/56 exist for one purpose, to get students to/from Tottenville HS. That's been the case since the routes were created. They've been rerouted a few times to connect to the Mall and streamline the connection to the SIR, but that's it. If not for the school, the route would not exist.The 54 used to connect West Brighton with the Seaview Hospital, which was at one point a major destination; it was later extended to cover Giffords Land when the old 4 was cut and rerouted to Tottenville. With the decline of the hospital to a simple nursing home, and the establishment of the area as preserved parkland (the Greenbelt), it's unlikely the route will ever see much traffic; its main purpose these days to getting students to/from Wagner HS. The 57 is another route that used to be more important, as it connected the major shopping areas of New Dorp with those in Port Richmond. Again, this route suffers because it travels through the Greenbelt, where there isn't much in the way of passenger generation. It does, however, serve FOUR high schools; New Dorp, Staten Island Tech, Wagner, and Port Richmond. The 66 serves an area that is better served by other routes short distances away; I believe it exists today only as an additional Victory Blvd line. It's the only non-limited 60-series route north of Jewett Ave, so it's better to think of it as a Victory Blvd peak local; all other Victory Blvd buses run limited stop between Jewett and the Ferry at those times. It just conveniently has a routing that brings it to the depot, instead of a deadhead. As for service connecting SI to Elizabeth or Perth Amboy; the call for that kind of service is very limited. Staten Island is essentially a suburban area, and the alternate commute available by connecting to NJT in those areas isn't as efficient as the more direct routes into the city served by the express buses or local bus to ferry; it's also more expensive. There are not many Islanders employed in areas of New Jersey close enough to NJT's rail service that aren't much more easily (and efficiently) reached by car. Suburb to suburb trips in this area aren't nearly as congested as suburb to CBD trips are, which makes mass transit significantly less attractive. |
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