The first phase of the Queens bus network redesign — a project to modernize 124 total bus routes in New York City’s largest borough by land area — has a week under its belt.
The MTA has said its priority is to ensure customers are aware of the changes to bus routes and stops. To that end, the agency reports it held 250 public events, many of which were coordinated with community boards. Starting June 16, it also deployed MTA employees in high-traffic bus stops across the borough as multilingual ambassadors to help riders through the transition.
The rollout has been rocky, though. When Epicenter spoke with other bus riders in the Langston Hughes Library — as well as busy transit areas in Forest Hills, Rego Park, Jackson Heights and Jamaica — before most of the bus network changes started, many had no clue about the redesign. And if they did, they weren’t sure how their bus routes would be affected.
Twenty-five-year-old Gabriela Peralta of Jackson Heights was one of them. She only recently heard about the redesign on her way to work, while waiting for the Q28 bus at the Union Street stop. She said she saw the yellow signage about some bus stops on the route changing and thought “that sounds really ominous.”
When asked, the MTA directed Epicenter NYC to general information found on its website but didn’t directly respond to our questions about exactly when and where its multilingual ambassadors are stationed or what languages they speak. This outreach is slated to continue through July 12.
To be sure, some info has reached civically engaged neighbors, including Karen Mitchell, a regular visitor of the Langston Hughes Queens Public Library branch and Elmcor Senior Center (where Epicenter frequently disseminates health information). Mitchell says she was initially informed about the redesign months ago at an East Elmhurst-Corona Civic Association meeting.
The Queens bus network redesign took six years to plan. The changes are happening in two phases starting June 29 and August 31 respectively. Phase 1, which encompasses 70% of the changes, involves 16 new routes, 67 routes changed and five discontinued. Phase 1 impacts eastern Queens and Ridgewood, while Phase 2 will largely affect western Queens. For a complete list of changes, see the MTA’s website.
The digital access issue
The MTA reports distributing neighborhood-specific brochures, digital tools and QR codes about the redesign, but some residents say it’s not enough. While the MTA has announced the bus changes on stop signs along with QR codes, Peralta believes there should be more direct language and accessible calls to action. Soon after she encountered the yellow sign, her aunt approached her with questions and confusion around the MTA bus redesign.
“A lot of older folks, a lot of people who have language barriers, people with disabilities, a lot of children use the buses, so it’s not like you’re really considering everyone in the messaging,” Peralta said. Some of the commuters aren’t as tech savvy or have a phone, she added.
MTA leadership says there’s a financial reason behind the agency limiting their use of print resources to communicate about the redesign, though the MTA is still considering these groups.
“As our agency is transitioning more to have digital resourcing available, we also want to make sure that, for our seniors and other folks who may not necessarily be as tech savvy, that there’s still a way for them to get information,” said Lucille K. Songhai, assistant director of government and community relations, at a June 26 meeting of Queens Community Board 4, which represents Elmhurst, Corona and nearby areas.
To that end, Songhai said she guided staffers at Elmcor Senior Center to print-friendly profiles of changes in bus routes. She added that MTA employees have distributed neighborhood-specific brochures at bus stops in Elmhurst, East Elmhurst, Corona and Jackson Heights during community events. The agency also mailed out a hard copy of the bus route changes to all Queens community boards, elected officials’ offices, senior centers and library branches, according to Songhai.
However, multiple library employees at one branch in Corona, Queens, including a senior who relies on the Q66 and Q102, were unaware of specific bus route changes or how to look them up on the website via bus route until Epicenter showed them.
Another kind of ambassador
Peralta, like many children of immigrants, says she has “ended up being the liaison for the MTA in my family.” Older family members had briefly heard about the redesign through a local Spanish-language news broadcast, but weren’t aware of the details.
They started reaching out to Peralta, who stepped up to the ambassador role. It took her about an hour and a half to look up different routes for each family member. Once she relayed these changes, her family told her they didn’t know if they would be able to take the bus anymore. The bus stops were now further away from them.
At the most recent QCB4 meeting, where the MTA presented the final details on the redesign implementation, one board member spoke up for neighbors with mobility issues: “If you get a bunch of complaints from people about having to walk too far to their bus stops, I hope that you will will be open to reconsidering that decision,” he said.
A Liberty Avenue resident, Vidya Singh, had similar concerns when she heard, through bus drivers, about changes in the Q8 and Q9 bus routes. “They didn’t want to make a lot of stops, but sometimes they’re elderly and they can’t walk,” she said, resting her grocery bags on the ground. “Sometimes it’s hard when you have somebody expecting you to stop here, and you have to walk four or four five blocks down.”
The MTA has maintained that removing certain bus stops will speed up service and improve how well buses stick to schedule.
The agency did not directly respond to our questions about mobility access and what neighbors should do if they have to walk too far to their nearest bus stop. Instead, a spokesperson offered a general statement about equity: “Our analysis demonstrates that critical route changes were focused in areas with greater equity concerns, ensuring that these communities continue to have strong transit access.”
If you see something, say something
Another common community concern: overcrowding at already-packed bus stops on a route where multiple adjacent stops have already been removed.
At the board meeting, another QCB4 member also raised the issue of discontinued bus routes affecting access to some riders’ destinations. This was already the case with the now-removed Q38, she said, particularly for neighbors around Otis, 59th or 60th Avenues, or 99th Street. The MTA staffer, pulling up a map of the new and existing routes, suggested taking the Q88 instead.
“So many people are going to the [Leonardo] Da Vinci school. Some of them are going to the supermarket on 57th Avenue,” said the QCB4 member. “The 88 is not going to help them.”
The staffer then suggested neighbors take the Q88, then transfer to the Q14.
The community member’s response echoed the sentiment at other community board meetings, across other routes, on the topic: “So you’re saying take the 88 to Junction, take the 72 down to 57th Avenue, then take the 14 to 98th Street? Deal with the transfer — that’s the only way? What [you’re] saying isn’t going to make sense to these people.” Another community board member later seconded her comment.
The MTA staffer acknowledged the concern and said the agency could revisit it during the six-month review after they implement both phases of the redesign. From September 2025 to February 2026, the MTA will be watching how its plans shake out and considering feedback it receives.
That means it’s on New Yorkers to communicate if you see something amiss — like new or worsened overcrowding at a certain bus stop after other stops have been removed, or riders struggling to get somewhere due to a route removal or major changes. You can report these kinds of issues here, and provide more feedback about the bus network there too.
