Bad Van Plan for Carroll Gardens' Cut Bus Service

When the MTA cut bus service on the Carroll Gardens to Crown Heights route due to a lack of riders, it instituted a van plan. "Dollar van" rides were to replace the service.

Now, The Brooklyn Paper reports that there aren't enough customers for one van service. The operator claims he is "bleeding money" at $2 a fare and can't even afford to buy lunch.

He feels the city should subsidize the service. But no go on that, yet.

Critics say this particular van service is unreliable; that's why it doesn't get enough customers, according to the report.

I once lived in a small New England town that had a similar problem because most residents owned cars and didn't use public transportation. This is how it addressed the problem:

Low-income elderly and disabled people were given taxi rides to medical appointments at no cost to them. Medical insurance paid the taxi service.

A limited bus service ran from Monday to Friday with no weekend service. It made a couple of round trips per day. People had to catch the bus at set times, around two hours apart, in the morning and the afternoon, for instance, 6:00, 8:00, and 10:00 am and 1:00, 3:00, and 5:00 pm.

Granted, this type of service is inconvenient. If people miss a bus, they must wait two hours for the next one. Yet, it's better than no service at all.

Perhaps if the needs of the people were evaluated a limited-service plan could be devised?

Source:

Gary Buiso, "Van man can't stand the plan!" The Brooklyn Paper