White Plains CitizeNetReporter - SERGEANT FRIDAY REPORTS: Transit Manager Explains New Downtown Bus Routes

Introducing WPCNR's New Sergeant Friday Reports: Recently a WPCNR fan wrote us about the impact of new bus changes downtown and The Director of Surface Transportation for Westchester County, Richard Stiller responded to our fictional Sergeant Joe Friday's investigation and ansered our reader’s query.

In this new feature, White Plains CitizeNetReporter encourages citizens to report changes and circumstances that concern them. Tell us about a problem and we will put our fictional Sergeant Joe Friday on the case “to get the facts, ma’am.” Here's what a recent reader wrote on the White Plains bus routes:

WPCNR READER: To start...Last month when the bus schedule changed, the "common normal everyday riders" were never informed about the changes in the schedule. Oh! And when I found the schedule, it was inaccurate! There were no "fare-freee" buses to be found at 6:00 am (or approximately). Then, some people found out by word to mouth that the buses were not running into town. But how? By sitting on a bus, and the unfortunate bus driver NOW is layden with the burden of announcing "last stop.” Anyway, got to go.

Sergeant Friday contacted the Westchester Department of Communications who referred him to Deputy Commissioner of Transportation, Henry J. Stanton. Sergeant Friday contacted him and Mr. Stanton referred the query to Richard L. Stiller, Director of Surface Transportation, Westchester County Department of Transportation. Here is Mr. Stiller’s report:

Good afternoon. Deputy Comm. Stanton has asked me to respond to your recent inquiry to him.

Earlier this fall, the City of White Plains directed us to eliminate the bus layover area on E J Conroy Drive between Main St. & Hamilton Ave. They told us that dump trucks carrying debris from the construction project at the site of the old Macy's would need to use this street to transport debris away from the construction site.

As such, buses parked on E J Conroy would inhibit that operation. Since neither we nor the City could find a suitable area to have buses layover uptown, we were forced to move the buses closer to the TransCenter.

With this relocation, very valuable (and costly) bus time was used up. To maintain the same schedules, buses that formally laid over uptown, now had to go down to the TransCenter then back up to S.Broadway & Martine to start their next trips. To do this would require several additional buses to be added to the system (including the hiring of drivers) and yet not increase ridership (read: revenue).

The estimated cost to do this was in excess of $ 1.0M annually. In the interest of cost containment, the decision was made to terminate or originate a number of trips at the TransCenter on Routes 1W, 5, 6, 14 and 20. These affected trips were selected so as to minimize the impact to passengers.

As part of the marketing effort to our riders to inform them of these changes, we changed both the written public timetables and the schedules that are published on our website (www.beelinebus.com). We also had printed over 5,000 "palm cards" that were distributed to passengers by DOT staff at bus stops along Martine Ave. & Main St. both prior to and after the schedule changes and RideGuide schedules that are posted at all bus stops were changed..

Please feel free to contact me if you need any additional information.

Richard L. Stiller

Director of Surface Transportation

Westchester County Department of Transportation
100 East 1st Street
Mount Vernon, New York 10550
914.813-7776
914.813.7766 FAX
RLS1@westchestergov.com


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