NY: MTA Bus Ridership Plummeting, Statistics Show [View all]

May 17--New Yorkers aren't bussing it as they once did, as ridership drops on lines around the city, even on the speedier Select Bus Service, according to MTA statistics.

The drop off in riders in most of the boroughs, attributed by transit officials to traffic congestion and fare hikes, is a stark contrast to record subway ridership that has the MTA and an aging system struggling to keep up.

There were 162,385 fewer daily bus riders in the city last year compared to 2009, when average weekday ridership was 2.2 million a day. Tens of thousands have been ditching the bus in Brooklyn and Manhattan, while there were modest gains on Bronx and Staten Island routes; Queens had a small decline in ridership, according to the MTA figures.

"The traffic makes it worse," said Arnelio Cortes, 59, from Washington Heights. ..............(more)

http://www.masstransitmag.com/news/11971331/mta-bus-ridership-plummeting-statistics-show