Res. No. 1806

Resolution calling upon the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to conduct a pilot study to investigate the benefits and costs of providing bicycle access on certain express bus routes between Manhattan and the outer boroughs.

By Council Members Garodnick, Brewer, Fidler, Jackson, James and Palma

Whereas, The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), New York State’s public transportation entity,  provides 2.6 billion trips for New Yorkers each year; and

Whereas, In New York City, two MTA subsidiaries, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) and the MTA Bus Company provide bus service throughout the five boroughs; and

Whereas, The NYCTA is the largest agency within MTA’s regional network, transporting more than 7 million people on an average weekday by both bus and subway; and

Whereas, In 2007 the NYCTA operated 208 local and 36 express bus routes throughout the five boroughs using 4,578 buses; and

Whereas, The MTA Bus Company was created in September 2004, to assume the operations of the seven bus companies that previously operated private bus services under franchises granted by the New York City Department of Transportation; and

 Whereas, The MTA Bus Company operates a fleet of 1,226 buses that serve approximately 368,000 riders daily on 46 local bus routes in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens and 35 express routes between Manhattan and the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens; and

Whereas, Together the NYCTA and the MTA Bus Company’s buses served 875 million people in 2007, giving it the largest ridership figures among all bus systems in North America, more than double the second largest system; and

Whereas, The MTA encourages the use of bicycles, permitting them on its subways and allowing folding bicycles on its buses; and

Whereas, Additionally, bicycle parking is available adjacent to certain subway stations, in an attempt to integrate bicycles with the MTA’s transportation network; and

Whereas, While the MTA has bicycle friendly policies, transportation and bicycle advocates allege that the MTA can do more to foster bicycle riding amongst its ridership; and

Whereas, According to the United States Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, a benefit of integrating the mass transit network and bicycles include increased transit ridership because of improved accessibility to the transit network; and

Whereas, In 2005, the federal government enacted the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) <http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/safetealu/index.htm>, a reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), which provides funding for highways, transportation safety, and transit network planning from 2005 to 2009; and

Whereas, Many jurisdictions have integrated bicycles into their mass transportation networks by installing bike racks on their buses which allows passengers to load their bicycles on racks installed on the front of the bus, board the bus, and then remove the bicycle from the rack once they arrive at their destination; and

Whereas, This technology had been used since the mid-1970s and has been improved and became more prevalent in the 1990s according to the United States Department of Transportation; and

Whereas, Among major cities across the United States with bike racks on their public buses are Albuquerque, New Mexico; Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Los Angeles, California; Phoenix, Arizona; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; St. Louis, Missouri; Washington, D.C., and other urban areas; and   

Whereas, In Albuquerque, New Mexico, public buses transported approximately 330,000 bicycles in fiscal year 2008, underscoring the success and overall usefulness of this program; and

Whereas, Given the viability and low costs of the program, the MTA should analyze the feasibility of such program and other programs to accommodate bicycle access on express and regular bus routes in New York City and institute a pilot program on express bus routes, as these routes generally connect consumers traveling across boroughs and provide a necessary link to transportation for the communities in which they serve; now, therefore, be it

                     Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to conduct a pilot study to investigate the benefits and costs of providing bicycle access on certain express bus routes between Manhattan and the outer boroughs.

JM

LS# 6877

February 4, 2009