If it walks like and talks like a duck, it’s not always a duck, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority official said last week.
That’s the case at least along the B67, a bus line that some feel is overcrowded — just not the MTA.
“All the [numbers] are within our guidelines,” Andrew Inglesby, assistant director of MTA Government and Community Relations told the Park Slope Civic Council last week.
The civic group asked the MTA to examine the route and gauge conditions on it, which the group determined to be “seriously overcrowded,” and requiring the addition of at least one extra bus, particularly during school days.
Inglesby said that from 7-7:30 a.m., an average of 35.5 passengers ride the bus; from 7:30-8 a.m., that number jumps to 49.7; from 8-8:30, the average is even higher, at 51.5 passengers; and then from 8:30-9 a.m., the number dips to 48.
James Anyansi, a spokesperson for New York City Transit, the agency that operates the city’s buses and subways under the MTA’s oversight, said that for buses to be considered crowded, they must have an average of 54 passengers during peak hours, and 36 during off peak hours. If they are found to be technically crowded, more buses are added to a line, he said. “We do regular passenger counts, and if more buses are needed, we adjust accordingly,” he added.
Inglesby said that the agency said he would send operation planning workers out again, if riders still feel the B67 is too overcrowded or skips stops.
Civic trustee Michael Cairl said the civic and the agency agree to disagree. “They said what they said, and we’ll continue to monitor things,” he stated.
It might not make up for a crowded ride, but B67 passengers now have access to a new service that could remove a bit of stress from their commute, courtesy of the Park Slope start-up company Roadify. Using the company’s free service, commuters alert fellow riders about the status of a particular bus, giving a more accurate estimated time of arrival. The B67 rumbles through Kensington, Park Slope, Downtown Brooklyn, and DUMBO.