RIOC Says It Will Run An Afternoon Roosevelt Island Red Bus Shuttle To And From Manhattan This Weekend Beginning At 3 PM To Help Residents As Alternative To Crowded Tram During Busy Cherry Blossom Season - Watch Video Of Red Bus Shuttle Ride From Second Ave To RI Last Weekend, Only 15 Minutes

According to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC):

Dear Roosevelt Island Community:

RIOC’s Transportation Department will once again run an afternoon Red Bus Shuttle from Roosevelt Island to Manhattan this weekend (April 6th and 7th) to help residents with off-island travel during the busy Cherry Blossom season.

Shuttles will run hourly (traffic permitting) from 3PM to 7PM from the Roosevelt Island Tramway, making all northbound local stops to Capobianco Field (opposite PS/IS 217). The shuttle will depart on the half hour from the Manhattan Tram station, from the Southwest side of 2nd Avenue, between 58th and 59th Street, and will make all southbound local bus stops (starting with 591 Main St.) to the Tram. The last shuttle trips will depart from the Roosevelt Island Tram at 7 PM and Manhattan at 7:30 PM.

Please note that regular Red Bus service may run on an adjusted schedule to accommodate the additional Tram shuttle service. We also encourage island residents to utilize the F-Train which is now back to full service.

Thank you,

-RIOC Transportation

The RIOC Red Bus Manhattan Shuttle is a great alternative when, like last weekend, there are crazy long lines of tourists with waiting times to get to the Tram Staircase of at least an hour.

Last week RIOC extended the Red Bus Manhattan Shuttle hours to begin at 11 AM, 4 hours earlier than the usual time. This coming weekend, the Manhattan Red Bus Shuttle is back to beginning at 3 PM. As one resident said upon receiving the RIOC advisory noted:

Good Grief!!!

I see they have learned nothing from last week that having earlier hours that Residents Will benefit from — like starting at 11 am — is a good idea.

I asked RIOC Communications Director Bryant Daniels:

Why is the weekend Manhattan Red Bus Shuttle starting at 3 pm and not 11 am like last week?

Mr Daniels replied:

We ran it earlier because there was no F Train. With the Train back, we want to revert the Shuttle to the most active hours, reduce wear and tear where we can on the buses.

And keep serving Main Street.

The Manhattan Red Bus shuttle takes about 15 minutes from Second Avenue 59th street over the Queensboro Bridge thru Long Island City to Roosevelt Island.

Watch the video of a trip from last week.

It will be interesting to see with the F Train back, how that impacts the Roosevelt Island Tram line, if at all.