By Stephen Witt
For the sake of Bay Ridge and southern Brooklyn residents give the R Train line more love.
That’s what Bay Ridge City Councilman Vincent J. Gentile (D) is demanding in a letter to the MTA calling for the agency to conduct a full audit on the entire R Train line.
“The hardworking residents of Southern Brooklyn deserve better from the MTA, and I will hold them accountable for a lack of services”, stated Gentile. “With fares on the rise and service on the decline it’s about time the MTA steps up its game and starts giving New Yorkers the service they pay for and deserve.”
Gentile noted the R train is the commuter lifeline for Bay Ridge residents who work in Manhattan, and now that service on the beleaguered line has resumed through the Montague Street Tunnel residents had hoped service on the commute to Manhattan would be better. However, Gentile has received numerous complaints that not only have improvements not been made, but service has actually gotten worse.
“Accordingly, with this letter I hereby request that the Transit Authority conduct a full line audit for the R train. The audit should include but not be limited to, the number of subway cars used, the frequency of service in relation to the overcrowding, and the state of the subway equipment used,” Gentile said in the letter, adding the audit should include recommendations to improve the service on the line.
Similar audits were recently done on the G and L lines, which is a major hipster hub to Williamsburg and Bushwick, but ignores working-class Southern Brooklyn.
MTA Spokesperson Kevin Ortiz told reporters the audits are part of the agencies five-year capital plan to improve reliability.
