Update On Roosevelt Island Red Bus Service Debacle - Still Only 1 Of 5 Working But RIOC Hopes To Have 2 Red Buses And One New Shuttle Bus On The Road By Start Of School Year Thursday September 6

 The Roosevelt Island Red Bus service problems continued this week.

As reported August 16:

... due to maintenance issues only 1 of 5 Roosevelt Island Red Buses are currently working. Roosevelt Island residents are experiencing long waiting times and overcrowding when the only working Red Bus does arrive at their stop....

and updated on August 24 with this statement from RIOC:

Dear Roosevelt Island Community: We are still only running 1 Red Bus on the island due to ongoing maintenance issue. We anticipate this will remain the case well into next week. We understand this has been deeply frustrating, but our team is working as hard as we can to restore more service soon....

Today, RIOC Communications Director Bryant Daniels responded to a resident's inquiry with another Red Bus update:

According to Mr Daniels:

I know it’s been a terrible hassle, especially for those on the north end of the island. Couple of quick things:

So, it’s still one bus for the moment. I’ve been hesitant to give too many public timelines on return to service for exactly this reason, but here’s the rosiest picture:

By the end of this week, we SHOULD have 2 more buses back from repair;

We should also have a new, shorter 14-seater that we’ve recently purchased on the island to help supplement service.

I could go on and on about how we got here over many years, but the bottom line for us right now is we need to fix it.

So, our target as an organization is next Thursday, when school starts. We want 2 buses and the shuttle on the road by then. That’s what we’re working towards. It’s probably cold comfort for you (and everyone else) but I can assure you this situation is almost the only thing we’re fixated on right now.

Roosevelt Island has been down to 1 or 2 Red Buses since late June. Here's more on the Roosevelt Island Red Bus problems.