A bevy of elected officials representing northeast Queens are calling on the city to increase bus service to Douglaston and add more bus stops in the community.
Currently, the last express morning bus leaves the community at 7:45 a.m. As a result, many Douglaston residents living south of the Long Island Expressway have limited commuting options.
"There aren't enough bus lines serving the neighborhood," U.S. Rep. Steve Israel, D-Great Neck said. "We want additional bus stops and our fair share of federal funding"
Israel and state Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, D-Fresh Meadows, want to see an increase in funding for the Federal Transit Authority Bus and Bus Facilities Grant, which pays to replace, rehabilitate and purchase buses and construct bus stops.
They were joined Monday morning at the corner of 65th Avenue and Douglaston Parkway by state Sen. Tony Avella, D-Bayside, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, state Assemblyman Edward Braunstein, D-Bayside, and Councilman Paul Vallone, D-Bayside, to call for improved bus service to the community.
"A two-fare zone isn't fair enough," Rozic said. "The express bus almost never comes here. It's unreliable and unsustainable."
Israel said four if the five bus lines that serve Douglaston have experienced increases in ridership during the past two years.
"We pay some if the highest taxes in the country and deserve our fair share of city services," Avella said of the community.
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