Monday, April 19, 2010

Roosevelt Island Transporttion in the News

In the April 10, 2010 issue of The Wire, Roosevelt Islands news publication, on page 10 of 16 there is a photo featuring the tram construction site and overview of its progress.

In other news, page 14 of 16 of the same issue, features a letter to the editor with more complaints about the red bus schedule, or lack there of. It seems like RIOC is trying to address the problems with the inconsistency of the bus schedule, but resident commuters continue to express their frustrations.

Annoyed Passengers

The commuters of Roosevelt Island are getting accustomed to the Red Bus system. While some may not be bothered by the changes in their commute, others are a bit annoyed.

Typically, the first stop of the bus is the the tram, then the F train station on the island. The bus would run on the schedule of the tram, boarding customers transferring from the tram to the bus every 15 minutes. Now, there is no tram, but the bus continues to run on that same schedule operating 15 minutes after its reached its last stop. F train passengers have become annoyed by the bus continuing to operate on this schedule and feel that it is pointless since there is no tram.

I personally have witnessed the bus waiting at the last stop while passengers from the F train fill the station, even in cold and rainy weather. In a letter to the editor of The Wire, Roosevelt Island's news publication, reader Susan Cina expressed her frustrations about the bus route and schedule.
" I don't understand why, until the tram is back, the buses can't just run on a continuous route, especially since, according to a bus driver, there is one less bus being utilized for the on island route!"

She also states that there is no indication on the bus route map that the bus would not be proceeding to the subway after the last stop.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Relying on the Red Bus



A substitute for the Roosevelt Island tramway is the red shuttle bus. It typically runs to transport residents from the north end to the south end of the island. According to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp, it first provided service to residents in 1976 free of charge. in 1990 there was a 10 cent fare and in 1994 it increased to the current fare of 25 cents.
Roosevelt Islanders are relying on one of their last resorts; the red bus along with the Q102 which only goes to astoria, and the F train. The nearest taxi service is in astoria so there is hardly an influx of street cabs on the island.
In the event that the F train wont be running for whatever complications, what will manhattan-bound, island residents do?