MTA Adds More Northeast Queens Outreach On Bus Redesign Plan

OAKLAND GARDENS, QUEENS — A packed meeting about the MTA's bus network redesign proposal Thursday in Bayside won't be the last chance for residents of northeast Queens to weigh in on the controversial plan.

The MTA will host additional meetings about the bus redesign on April 1 in Oakland Gardens and on April 7 in Glen Oaks, thanks to state Sen. John Liu, state Assembly Member David Weprin and City Council Member Barry Grodenchik.

The Oakland Gardens meeting will take place at 7 p.m. in the Hollis Hills Bayside Jewish Center on Union Turnpike. The Glen Oaks meeting will take place at 7 p.m. the Queens County Farm on Little Neck Parkway.

The newly-added presentations will supplement upcoming outreach sessions already planned for Flushing, College Point, Whitestone and Floral Park.

MTA officials say feedback from the presentations and workshops will inform a revised draft of the agency's redesign plan, due to be released later this year.

The bus network redesign will be the first major overhaul of the borough's bus routes in roughly a century.

It's meant to remedy declining bus ridership and slow bus speeds by cutting under-used bus stops and combining redundant routes, but all 15 City Council members representing Queens say the MTA's current draft, released Dec. 31, would reduce bus service rather than improve it.

For more information about the bus redesign, click here.