Restore & Restructure the S67

Back in 2010, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) eliminated the S67, because it paralleled the S57 and Victory Blvd bus routes. However, this has resulted in riders along Watchogue Road having a harder time reaching the ferry, because it requires a transfer from the infrequent S57 to the Victory Blvd routes, and on top of that, they still have to make the transfer from the Victory Blvd routes to the ferry. Those transfers add much time and potential for delays to their commute.

At the same time, riders along Grymes Hill have lost weekend service, because of a lack of weekend service on the S66. In addition, residents living alongside the Staten Island Expressway, west of Richmond Avenue have no east-west service whatsoever, which is ridiculous for such a major corridor. Generally, it is preferable to route buses so that one is no more than 1/2 mile from an east-west route. These guidelines are clearly exceeded in this case, especially when you take into account the indirect street grid.

In addition, it is very time-consuming to reach the St. George Ferry Terminal from that neighborhood. You currently have to take the S44/94 or S46/96 (depending on whether you're closer to South Avenue or Richmond Avenue), which take a more indirect path to reach St. George, and also deal with a lot of crowding at certain times of the day, which causes the buses to take a long time. Travel times of close to an hour are not uncommon. With the more direct path, and the fact that there's less potential for crowding, this route could easily save 10-15 minutes over the S46, going towards the ferry.

This proposal entails taking the S66, and rerouting it to go straight across Watchogue Road/Deppe Place to Richmond Avenue. From there, it would make its way to the service road of the Staten Island Expressway. Buses can either terminate in the vicinity of Goethals Road North & South Avenue, or continue up South Avenue to hit more ridership generators and hopefully boost ridership. (See map). As it would no longer serve Jewett Avenue, the route would be renumbered the S67 (although if it is easier, it can still keep the S66 designation). This would generate enough ridership to justify 7-day service, unlike the current S66.

Jewett Avenue would be served by the S57, which would be rerouted, restoring weekend service to that corridor. In addition, as there are more direct routes from the Jewett Avenue corridor to St. George (which isn't the case with Watchogue Road, or the SIE service road), these riders would be better served with service to points along the S57, such as Seaview Hospital and New Dorp, and this would provide a defined north-south route in that corridor.

The MTA has just implemented a series of service restorations throughout the city, and plans to create new routes in East New York & Williamsburg in Brooklyn, and Hunts Point in The Bronx. This restructuring can be justified due to the ridership it would generate and coverage it would provide.

A map of the proposal is available here: http://goo.gl/FIMlI