Update On Roosevelt Island Red Bus Debacle, RIOC Reduces Service Hours Of The 1 Red Bus Currently Working And Shortens Route For At Least Next 2 Weeks - No Red Bus Service Between 11:30 AM To 12:30 PM And After 1 AM

As reported yesterday, there is only 1 of 5 Roosevelt Island Red buses in service until further notice. 

The news did not get any better today. The Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) announced this evening another reduction of Red Bus service for Roosevelt Island residents.

According to RIOC:

Dear Roosevelt Island Community:

We are still currently running with only 1 Red Bus on the island due to ongoing maintenance issues and we expect this to remain the case for at least the next 2 weeks. We are exploring all options to bring additional buses to the island, but for now it’s imperative that we do what we can to preserve the bus in operation.

To that end, we have decided to make the following temporary changes starting tomorrow, Thursday (8/15):

Shorten the Red Bus Route: 

• Rather than go around the Cornell Tech lawn down to Southpoint Park, the Bus will now turn right at North Loop Road before heading back north. This should also shorten wait times for riders along Main Street. The bus will however run down to Southpoint Park from 6-11PM this Saturday (8/17) and the following Saturday (8/24) for our final 2 Summer Movies in the park.

We will be ending late-night service at 1am, when ridership is low, to help reduce stress on the bus.

After morning rush hour, from 11:30am-12:30pm the bus will be taken off the road for refueling and maintenance. It will also give the engine a chance to cool down. 

• Riders should prioritize using the Q102 bus during this one-hour time period.

The weekly Shoppers Red Bus will be suspended until further notice.

Again, these changes will be made on a temporary basis to help keep our bus running. PSD will increase patrols in mass transit areas and Southpoint Park while these changes are in effect, and we are encouraging Red Bus users to please prioritize elderly and disabled riders first when boarding the bus.

The one bus currently on the road will be running on a “load and go” basis to try and keep people moving. You can currently track the Red Bus using the Transit app (RIOC is in the beta testing phase of this bus tracking, but it is live for the public to see) so we encourage folks to download this free app and check the bus location on the island before departing.

We sincerely apologize for these issues and will continue to work as quickly as we can to restore full service.

-The RIOC Executive Team

A resident shares photo of 4 Roosevelt Island Red Buses at the Motorgate yard last Monday evening. 

These are all decommissioned non-working buses used for their spare parts for working Red Buses.

Click here for more information on the Roosevelt Island Red Bus debacle and the GPS Tracking app.