Senator Golden Announces Uptown/downtown Express Bus Service Restored

Brooklyn – State Senator Martin J. Golden (R-C-I, Brooklyn), this morning announced that negotiations orchestrated through his leadership within the State Senate, have resulted in the return of Uptown/Downtown Express Bus Service on the X27 and X 28 routes serving the Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach and Bensonhurst communities of Brooklyn. The service will be restored in the early Summer.

“I was proud to talk with people waiting for, and on, our local express buses running along Shore Road and announce that the eight months of service disruption on the X27 and X28 routes is about to end. The Metropolitan Transit Authority has agreed to restore the X27 and X37, as well as the X28 and X 38, express bus routes as they were prior to budget cuts in June, 2010. This is a great day, a tremendous victory, for transportation in our community.

The new routes were not working for the people of my district. On a regular basis, I received emails and phone calls from people waiting at bus stops. The commute, based on the new routes and schedules, was almost double for many, and people were selling their homes, changing their hours at work, hiring second babysitters, and the list goes on.

The service changes were having a detrimental effect on the quality of life of Brooklynites, and I made sure that the MTA knew it, and would not ignore it. That is why I opposed any efforts to try to remedy their mistakes, and opposed the “by-pass” service they had proposed in the Fall. This community and I were not going to settle for anything less than a return to the way our bus operated before last June. We deserved nothing less.

The routes and schedules could not continue as the June 2010 changes dictated. I thank the Metropolitan Transit Authority for lending a friendly ear and listening to the people who pay the $5.50 fare each way, each day, in order to get to work and come home at night so enjoy the lifestyle they enjoy in Brooklyn.

I will continue to discuss the transportation needs of this community and will work towards the advancement of this neighborhood’s need to see weekend express bus service restored as well.”