Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Roosevelt Island Red Bus Service Extended To Southpoint Park Starting May 24 - RIOC Operations Committee Discusses Proposal To Delink Red Bus Schedule From Tram And To Run In Continuous Loop

New Red Bus Route to Southpoint Park From RIOC

Starting tomorrow May 24, the Roosevelt Island Red Bus service will be extended to Southpoint Park. As reported in Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) President Leslie Torres May 18 Report To The Community:
... RIOC is pleased to announce that on May 24 the Roosevelt Island Red Bus route will begin providing service to Southpoint Park. The route will remain the same north of the tram, but south of the tram it will be extended to Southpoint. The bus will depart the tram stop and proceed southbound on East Drive. The existing route makes a right hand turn and proceeds westbound, south of Sports Park; the extended route will continue southbound and will stop at the south west corner of Goldwater Hospital, adjacent to the Southpoint Park entrance. The bus will then turn right onto West Drive, heading northbound to service stops at Goldwater Hospital and West Tram, then proceeding north to the F-train station.

The Red Bus will stop at Southpoint Park as part of regular local service, seven days a week from the start of service at 5:45 am to the close of service (2:30 am Sun-Thurs, 3:30 am Fri-Sat). Please note, however, that the Octagon Express will not service Southpoint Park.

To connect with the Tram, Red Bus customers will be able to select either the "Tram Station East" stop or the "Tram Station West" stop to board or depart the bus. Two additional stops will be installed with this service change: “Southpoint Park” and “Goldwater Hospital.”...
According to RIOC, the new route to Southpoint Park will not change the Red Bus Schedule timing from the Tram to Octagon in either direction.

However, there may be more changes coming to the Roosevelt Island Red Bus. During the May 21 Operations Committee meeting, RIOC staff announced plans to stop linking the Red Bus to the Tram Schedule and have a continuously looping Red Bus route which RIOC staff asserts will be a more efficient schedule (audio webcast of the meeting available from RIOC and I will have video from the meeting as well in future post). Several RIOC Directors present at the meeting expressed reservations about not having a Red Bus waiting for the Tram to arrive during non rush hours so no decision was made to implement any plan to delink the Red Bus from the Tram Schedule yet.

Also, advocated by several RIOC Directors at the Operations Committee meeting was having the Red Bus route return to it's previous route of stopping at the Tram Station and then going around the water fountain on its way north instead of the current route past the Sportspark and now Southpoint Park before heading north. A subcommittee was formed to investigate this matter further.

Will have more on these issues soon.

13 comments :

Westviewer said...

De-linking from the tram schedule is a great idea!   I know it's a tough pill to swallow for the professional Roosevelt Islanders, but the fact is that many, many more people use the subway than the tram. 

zoilalexie said...

I think this is AWESOME.  I used to walk from the Tram Stop down to South Point Park.  Now, the bus will take us all the way there.  Thank you.

Anonymous said...

I think this is.
bad .the fat people on this island need to walk didn't we just have fitness week.

Anonymous said...

Did matt katz and rira appove this

Anonymous said...

I miss the good old days on this island. Before these new buildings. With these new uppery up people who now live here. Whites and asians

Anonymous said...

The old days are gone!! I suggest you take your racist comments and move off the Island. Could not be a better example of what is wrong with society today.

CheshireKitty said...

Uh, oh... bad idea to delink the bus from the tram.. Or, at least the idea should be thoroughly aired and discussed.  It's quite a hike from the tram north to Manhattan Park and beyond - and not having a bus meeting the tram is going to make living on RI that much less attractive or easier.  But I'd be willing to listen to arguments on each side..  

Ratso123 said...

It seems that the red bus may have to be delinked from the Tram.  If you are on your way to Southpoint or Goldwater Hospital, it may not be practical for the bus to wait at the Tram for 5-10 minutes during non-rush hour periods.  If service is continuous, people will be moved around faster. As it is, there will be people getting off the subway and getting on the red bus expecting to go to Southpoint.  They will eventually get there, but they will go all the way north and then around.  If there are holdovers, a round trip on the bus will take too long.

Mark Lyon said...

This is why I think bike share would be an excellent idea on RI.  If we had stations at Motorgate, Octagon and somewhere near the Subway/Tram combo, they could fill just half of the slots and residents of MP and Octagon could move the bikes back and forth as they make their commute.  Local riders and tourists would likely return to the same location where they get a bike.  When we come in late or leave the apartment early, we could skip the waiting and just grab a bike.

Anonymous said...

YOu people in octagon and southtown are a joke with this bike b.s. move off the island. I guess when you. Don't have to worry about. Money you worry about b.s. bikes.

Anonymous said...

Good news for the people of octagon and southtown. Starbucks will have a starbucks. On the go.no need to get off your bike. There will be a starbucks stand on main. Street. Just just ride up. Buy your latte and ride off. I hope the rira appoves this. Yes I can't wait.

Anonymous said...

Why is telling the truth about the island. Racist

Janet Falk said...

Glad to hear the Red Bus now takes residents to Southpoint Park.

Will visitors who land at Tram Plaza see a sign directing them to Southpoint Park and, in October, Four Freedoms Park, via the Red Bus?

When will RIOC post directional signs at the Tram and Subway?

When will RIOC put information on the Tram screens to give directions and suggestions of activities, places to eat, etc.?

Or does RIOC not care if visitors leave the Island without spending a dime here?