{"id":7036,"date":"2025-10-17T22:41:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T22:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/7036\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T22:41:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T22:41:06","slug":"still-a-work-in-progress-fossella-continues-push-for-better-bus-service-on-staten-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/7036\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Still a work in progress\u2019: Fossella continues push for better bus service on Staten Island"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, NY — After a summer of bus delays and issues on Staten Island,<\/a> Borough President Vito Fossella says that, while there has been improvement, he is still working to improve MTA bus service for the borough\u2019s commuters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took a snapshot, we put it on, got their attention,\u201d said Fossella, speaking at a press conference outside the Yukon Bus Depot in New Springville on Friday. \u201cThere is progress, but folks need to know we\u2019re not going away. We\u2019re going to keep on this.\u201d <\/p>\n

For two days in June, official alerts from the MTA warned that 12 of the borough\u2019s express bus routes had trips canceled, primarily during the early morning rush hour. Additionally, in that same time period, 23 of the 31 local and limited bus routes on Staten Island had service delay alerts on the MTA\u2019s mobile app, warning that customers should expect a longer wait than usual.<\/p>\n

At the time, Demetrius Crichlow, president of New York City Transit for the MTA, acknowledged that the agency was working to improve overall bus service on Staten Island.<\/p>\n

In July, Fossella, representatives from the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 726 and the MTA met to discuss the problems with the borough\u2019s buses.<\/a> Crichlow characterized the meeting as \u201cproductive.\u201d And Fossella announced that the agency had committed to improving bus service for the borough.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the borough president said bus cancellations have decreased significantly since the summer, with an estimated 174 cancellations in September, down from 971 in July and 518 in August. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve still got work to do. Still a work in progress, and the structural long-term solution has to be something more like another garage. There are electric buses that are going to come here,\u201d said Fossella. <\/p>\n

Daniel Cassella, president at Amalgamated transit Union Local 726, which represents bus operators and mechanics on Staten Island, has previously stated that the union has ongoing concerns about bus maintenance inadequacies that may lead to delays and cancellations. <\/p>\n

On Friday, he reiterated that point, stating that one of his biggest concerns is the lack of space for repairs and maintenance. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe maintenance, which is definitely a big problem here on Staten Island, is not going to get any better. We just don\u2019t have the space. There\u2019s not enough room for the mechanics to work,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a big issue closing Meredith; it should not have happened. I think we should start looking for another piece of property. And I don\u2019t mean a temporary solution, a permanent solution. \u201d <\/p>\n

The Meredith Avenue Bus Depot, which opened in Chelsea in 2009, ceased operations on Jan. 3. The MTA has stated that the depot was built to absorb the overflow of buses from the Yukon Bus Depot and the Castleton Bus Depot, Port Richmond.<\/p>\n

After the construction of the Charleston Bus Depot in 2011, the capacity at the Yukon Bus Depot and the Castleton Bus Depot was in line with that of the other depots in the bus system, according to the agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeredith Depot is no longer necessary to support bus operations in Staten Island due to right sizing of capacity and Yukon, Castleton and our most recent Charleston Depot,\u201d MTA Spokesperson Meghan Keegan told the Advance\/SILive.com last year. <\/a><\/p>\n

Fossella and Cassella were joined at Friday\u2019s press conference by Filippa Grisafi, a Staten Island commuter who runs the Facebook group \u201cSI Express Buses More and Better Service Not Less and Worse,\u201d which has over 3,000 members. Grisafi has been an advocate for better bus service for the past eight years. <\/p>\n

While she commended the MTA and the borough president\u2019s office for their work on improving service, she reiterated her concerns about the delays and service issues, highlighting the removal of certain routes and overcrowding on buses. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as the issues that we continue to experience, the greatest has been the removal of the SIM4x and 8x routes. The MTA assured us that the removal of these routes would not cross overcrowding on the regular routes,\u201d she stated. <\/p>\n

In September, the MTA discontinued the SIM4x and 8x bus routes,<\/a> which first began running in August 2018 to coincide with the Staten Island Express Bus Network Redesign.<\/p>\n

\u201cSIM4x and SIM8x riders will continue to be served by the SIM4 and the SIM8 express routes,\u201d MTA spokesperson Joana Flores said at the time.<\/p>\n

In place of the SIM4x and SIM8x trips, the MTA planned additional service on the SIM4 and SIM8 routes.<\/p>\n

But Grisafi said the very minimal increase in service has been \u201ctotally inadequate,\u201d adding that the SIM4 and SIM8 continue to see overcrowding. \u201cThis must be addressed and rectified immediately,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n

Frank Farrell, MTA New York City Transit acting executive vice president, buses, said his agency has \u201cmade great strides in improving Staten Island bus service, with express bus on-time performance improving by 8% since this time last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to shaving even more time off of Staten Islanders\u2019 commutes,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Fossella said he will continue to work with the MTA to fix these important issues and act as a liaison:<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are real consequences to real people, and we will be here as long as we can be a strong advocate for the Staten Island commuter, especially the express bus commuter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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