Eliot Avenue Express Bus Enhancements (QM24)

The residents of Glendale, Ridgewood, and Middle Village do not have adequate bus service to the city during off peak hours. The only express bus to Midtown through these areas is the QM24. This service however does not fulfill the needs of most residents, despite it's high ridership.

The QM24 has trips that currently end at 8:50 AM to Manhattan and start at 3:00 PM to Queens. People do leave their jobs earlier. This area has no mode of transportation without having 2 or more transfers. The residents off peak have to deal with taking the multiple Buses along the area to the (M) train , and if they're going to the east side, an extra transfer at Broadway-Laffayette St has to be made to the (6).

A 2003/2004 bus study by the NYCDOT saw that the addition of such service was a "viable use of resources", seen here:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/dotbusrsra_3.pdf (page 47 of the document)

Ridership on the QM24 back then was 1,984 riders, which includes the midtown and downtown services. Today, the QM24/QM25 have 1,427 riders. Despite this decrease, its average weekday ridership in 2015 made it the 12th highest used express bus at MTA Bus Company, with 1,113 riders, and this bus only runs weekday rush hours in the peak direction. In comparison to BxM11, BM2, and QM4, which run significantly longer spans than the QM24 on weekdays, the QM24 has more ridership.

Therefore, it is suggested for the MTA to look at and invest in the following:

1. Midday & Evening QM24 service, with later service to Manhattan and Earlier Service to Queens. Later service to Manhattan would be appreciated by the folks of Glendale and Middle Village because of inadequate amount of other transportation alternatives as fast as it. Later options to home would also help accommodate riders which don't travel during traditional commuting hours.

2. Implement Saturday and Sunday QM24 express bus service at hourly intervals.