BROOKLYN-USA.ORG BROOKLYN NEWS 25
Brooklynites on the Move
Borough President Adams wants
to pave a prosperous path for people
who live, work, and play in Brooklyn.
A commuter himself, he frequently
hops on the subway to travel to
events, drives his own car to community
meetings, and can oftentimes be
found enjoying a leisurely afternoon
peddling a Citi Bike.
Recognizing that the borough’s
transportation needs have changed
over time, Borough President Adams
wants to build a mass transit system
that gives every Brooklynite an
affordable ability to commute safely.
He knows that people want to
live in Bushwick, work in Bay Ridge,
and dine at restaurants in Brighton
Beach. That lifestyle depends on subways
that operate on time, bike lanes
that connect our diverse neighborhoods,
and roads that are safe for
pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists,
and bus riders.
To advance this vision, Borough
President Adams is leading the charge
for the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority (MTA) to prevent significant
disruptions when the L train eventually
closes for needed repairs, to
allow straphangers in Brownsville
and East New York to transfer for
free between the 3 and L trains, and
to offer the “Freedom Ticket,” which
would allow commuters to pay a
single fare for travel within New York
City on MTA subways and Long Island
Rail Road (LIRR) trains.
After the MTA announced that the
Canarsie Tube, through which the L
train travels between Brooklyn and
Manhattan, must close for as many
as 40 months to repair damage sustained
during Superstorm Sandy,
Borough President Adams laid out
a series of proposals to address the
unique transportation needs of the
225,000 people who rely daily upon
this transit line, including a dedicated
bus lane on the Williamsburg
Bridge, enhanced bus and subway
service to affected communities, as
well as fast-tracked construction of
protected bike infrastructure. He has
formed a coalition with local elected
officials and community stakeholders
to ensure residents and business
owners along the route are informed
and engaged in forthcoming solutions.
“Brooklynites who live and work
along the path of the L train, from
Canarsie to Williamsburg, need to
be part of a constructive conversation
with the MTA on the impending
Canarsie Tube repairs,” said Borough
President Adams. “The impact of the
rehabilitation work will be significant
on riders, and they deserve nothing
less than a comprehensive mitigation
strategy, as well as a transparent
dialogue while that strategy is developed.
It will shut down the economic
growth that’s been taking place in the
community. I will be working handin
hand with residents and business
owners to ensure the MTA and the
City reach the right destination.”
There are transit challenges that
exist along the path of the L train,
including at a key yet underserved
intersection in Brownsville. Dating
back to when he was a member of
the New York State Senate, Borough
President Adams urged the MTA to
allow free transfers between the
Junius Street station on the 3 line
and the Livonia Avenue station on the
L line, stops that are within a block of
each other but currently require two
fares for a transfer. Last November,
the MTA finally promised to build
a station connector, but there has
been no commitment to eliminate
the double fare before construction
is scheduled to begin in 2018. In
February, Borough President Adams
launched a petition drive with the
Riders Alliance, a grassroots transit
advocacy organization, to assist the
more than 5,400 riders a day who
use these stations; the petition is on
line at ridersny.org/freetransfer.
“The MTA should have a heart
for long-suffering straphangers in
Brownsville and East New York who
have been spending twice as much
as their Upper East Side counterparts
on a simple out-of-station
transfer,” said Borough President
Adams. “To have a free transfer in
one of the most affluent parts of our
city and deny one in one of the most
economically-challenged is unconscionable.
It’s long overdue to avoid
missed connections and to do the
right and equitable thing for Brooklyn
commuters.”
Additionally, to assist commuters
in central and east Brooklyn,
Borough President Adams organized
a coalition of local elected officials in
January in support of a pilot program
for the proposed “Freedom Ticket,”
which would allow commuters to pay
a single fare for travel within New
York City on MTA subways and LIRR
trains. The initiative would allow riders
to purchase a single one-way
ticket or a weekly or monthly pass
valid for travel on both subway and
railroad trains for less than the price
of tickets and passes for both systems,
a plan which would mitigate
overcrowding on subway lines near
the Atlantic Branch corridor while
also providing residents additional
connection options.
Mass transit in Brooklyn is not
only over land, but increasingly over
sea. Borough President Adams wants
to expand citywide ferry service to
waterfront neighborhoods with limited
public transit options, such as
Red Hook and Marine Park. In testimony
submitted to the New York City
Economic Development Corporation
(EDC) in September, he additionally
advised that the City must build ferry
landings near CitiBike and transit
connections, in concert with a fare
system integrated with the MTA.
Borough President Adams has
committed himself to advocating for
borough-wide improvements to mass
transit, from restoration of bus routes
like the B71 between the Columbia
Street Waterfront and Crown Heights
to the X28 between Bensonhurst/Sea
Gate and Manhattan, to the renovation
of subway stations borough-wide
to meet Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) standards. He is examining
innovative proposals like bus
rapid transit in southern Brooklyn,
the Brooklyn Queens Connector — a
streetcar line from Sunset Park to
Astoria — as well as a potential subway
extension down Utica Avenue
through East Flatbush and Flatlands.
By spending a lot of time on transportation
issues, Borough President
Adams hopes to reduce the time
Brooklynites spend on the move.
Photo: Erica Sherman/Brooklyn BP’s Office
Borough President Adams took a ride on the 5 line in Downtown Brooklyn with
several Brooklynites, embracing a fellow straphanger inside the train and
chatting with Zomur Akther, a 22-year-old college student from Kensington, in
the Borough Hall subway station.
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/freetransfer