After months of aggravation for residents and businesses, the Megabus franchise is finally
slated to move both of its loading stations on August 1st, to 34th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues, adjacent to the Javits Center truck marshaling yards.
This is a major victory for our neighborhood: let’s celebrate our win, showing that your activism and good partnerships produce results. We are thankful that the DOT finally saw the wisdom of Community Board 4’s original recommendation and adopted it. Thanks to all of you, your petitions, your showing up at meetings and speaking up, come August we will again reclaim what was ours in the first place, our sidewalks!
Beyond the cleared sidewalks, this change will also reduce the number of buses traveling on our streets and idling in various places.
Unfortunately the change did not come soon enough for an 85 year old lady who was hit by a cab while crossing 41st Street in the middle of the block, apparently while trying to reach the Megabus stop. The Port Authority had indicated that the installation was dangerous and indeed it was.
In the long run, Megabus will benefit from the new Select Bus Service on 34th Street that should become operational next year. In 2014, the # 7 line will stop at 33rd Street and 11th Avenue, giving Megabus even more connectivity. Finally if and when the block between 33rd and 34th Streets is redeveloped , we hope a full fledge bus terminal will be included in the plans.
Congratulations! You’ve just put what may be the best inter-city bus company out of business at least here in NYC. Very few folks will want to bother with taking a city bus to another bus, when they can ride Bolt at 7th Ave & 32nd St. Bolt is Greyhound in disguise, who for years had a virtual monopoly on bus travel in the northeast. The only reason why Bolt even exists is because Megabus was a much better alternative to Greyhound. While I’m generally in agreement with protecting pedestrians, I fail to see what made Megabus so “hazardous”, particularly when double-decker tour buses are commonplace in Manhattan.
I’m very disappointed in this change. It will make it much harder for me to travel from the neighborhood.
I’m happy for your victory! I’m hoping that my neighbors can come together and get Megabus to operate quietly in our neighborhood, and to relocate its above ground fuel storage tank from its premises.
FYI: Megabus is Coach Bus Lines, “in disguise.”
[…] petitions, hearings , photographs and numerous testimonies, we succeeded in relocating Megabus away from residents and our neighbor the Port Authority. Governor Cuomo passed a new legislation giving a much larger […]