Pursuing R Train Alternatives During Tunnel Closure

Back in June, local City Council Member Vinnie Gentile and 17 other elected officials attended a meeting convened by the Riders Alliance, the Straphangers Campaign and Borough President Marty Markowitz, to brainstorm commuter alternatives to the R train during the MTA's unprecedented 14+-month closure, beginning the first week in August, of the Sandy-damaged Montague Tunnel, which carries the R under the East River into lower Manhattan.

MTA president Tom Prendergast announced In a media release this week that the MTA had accepted some of the group's suggestions, including:

• Upping the number of X27 express buses from Bay Ridge to lower Manhattan by 25% for the duration of the tunnel closure;
• Making “gap trains” available that can be put into service to ease delays on the 4/5 or on the D/N/R during closure;
• Adding MTA staff at key locations to expedite transfers; 
• Running both escalators from the R platform at Jay Street/Metrotech up to the A, C and F platform during AM rush hour.

Gentile is calling on the MTA to put these measures in effect before the tunnel is closed, not a month after, as currently planned.

Gentile has also called on the MTA to eliminate the late-night R shuttle to minimize the number of late-night transfers.

While the B37, when it returns next year, Gentile said, will provide another transportation alternative to R train commuters, it is not a Manhattan connection.

Gentile is pushing the MTA for additional bus service and ferry service for R train commuters, stating the obvious point that closing Bay Ridge's commuter lifeline to Manhattan has created an extraordinary challenge that demands an extraordinary response from the MTA.

Gentile has also called on NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan to open ferry service from Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park  to Wall Street -- at least during the Montague Tunnel closure.

It's only 20 minutes by ferry from Bay Ridge to Wall Street.