MTA New York City Transit announced today that it is hosting a “Community Conversation” in Brooklyn on the recently announced Fast Forward Plan to modernize the subway system and reimagine bus and paratransit service.  The town hall-style event at which the public will be able to learn and comment on the Fast Forward Plan will be held at Medgar Evers College on Tuesday, Sept. 25. 

“The sweeping, comprehensive, detailed Fast Forward Plan touches all aspects of NYC Transit and, by extension, will have an impact on anyone who takes mass transit in New York City,” NYC Transit President Andy Byford said.  “We want all of our customers and the greater public to learn about the Plan and give us their questions and comments about it at this event.” 

In May, President Byford introduced the Fast Forward Plan: The Plan to Modernize New York City Transit as a roadmap to modernizing all services offered by MTA New York City Transit, including subway service and subway stations, local, express and SBS bus routes, and paratransit options. The plan also sets out to improve accessibility across all services, and addresses how NYCT can improve its organizational structure, corporate culture, and customer service including communication with the public. 

The Fast Forward Plan includes goals such as installing state-of-the-art new signal and track infrastructure for subways within five years, accelerating accessibility improvements across the subway system by ensuring all customers will be no more than two stops from an accessible station within five years, repairing and improving more than 150 subway stations over five years, putting a new modern fleet of thousands of subway cars and buses into service within five years, and completely redesigning the bus network to meet new ridership demands and population trends. The full plan is available here. 

To track and report progress and to hold itself accountable to stakeholders and the public, MTA New York City Transit plans to issue twice-yearly reports on the progress of its Fast Forward Plan initiatives. Since the plan was announced, NYC Transit has moved forward on accessibility improvements at three subway stations, moved forward on redesigning the entire Staten Island express bus network to improve reliability and service, increased off-peak service on bus routes with high growth potential, and launched the quarterly Customer Commitment report to set and track clear goals on customer-focused improvements. As part of the Fast Forward Plan, NYC Transit is implementing a redesign of the Staten Island Express Bus network this week and is embarking on a redesign of bus travel in the Bronx as part of a plan to redesign the bus network throughout the entire city.  In June, President Byford appointed Transit’s first advisor for systemwide accessibility to improve paratransit service and implement accessibility initiatives in the Fast Forward Plan. 

President Byford and MTA New York City Transit staff will be presenting the Fast Forward Plan at meetings across the city, speaking to customers and soliciting feedback on how the Fast Forward Plan will affect their commutes and how NYC Transit plans to improve accessibility and customer service. Members of the public are highly encouraged to attend to learn about the Plan and bring their questions and comments about it to President Byford and his staff.

Information on the event in Brooklyn is below. Subway station signage in Brooklyn is also being used to help inform customers about the meeting. The venue is ADA accessible. Members of the public who cannot attend are encouraged to submit questions and feedback about the Fast Forward Plan online via the MTA website at fastforward.mta.info.

WHERE:

Medgar Evers College, Founders Auditorium

Enter on Crown Street between Franklin and Bedford avenues

Brooklyn, NY 11225

 or Franklin , or B16, B41, B43, B48 or B49

WHEN:

Tuesday, Sept. 25, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m., program begins at 6:30 p.m.