MTA announces service cuts to 11 bus routes

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - Missing a bus in some parts of New York City is about to become that much more inconvenient.

The MTA has announced it will be making service cuts to 11 bus routes as part of larger changes coming to 19 routes.

Manhattan’s M55 will see the biggest changes with a 15 minute wait time on weekdays increasing to 20 minutes.

Buses running through Brooklyn and Staten Island neighborhoods will be impacted by the change, too.

The announced cuts are concerning for many riders, though transit officials describe the changes as minor tweaks which free up buses to meet demand elsewhere.

Mark Holmes, MTA Chief Officer of Operations Planning, says some bus routes dates back nearly 100 years.

 “Since that time our population has changed, our demographics have changed, the needs of transit riders have changed, but the bus network has not changed along with it,” said Holmes.

The MTA’s bus ridership has been hemorrhaging for years.

From 2010 to 2016 the transit authority saw a decline of about 60 million annual bus trips.

This as average speeds on the road trended downward, and ride share services like Uber and Lyft muscled into the city.

Transit advocates worry these newest changes will only further reduce ridership.

In a statement, City' Comptroller Scott Stringer said in part: "This is a terrible mistake... For years, we’ve called for more frequent bus service... and we’ve long said that the bus network redesign process should not rely on any cutbacks to service.”