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MTA hosting IBX pop up workshops along proposed light rail line this summer

Do you have thoughts on the MTA’s Interborough Express light rail project? Do you want to learn more about it? Then you’re in luck.

The transit authority is hosting a series of pop-up events along the proposed IBX route this summer. The workshops began earlier this month and will run through September.

The MTA is hosting the events at several subway stations and bus hubs along the IBX’s planned crosstown route between Brooklyn and Queens, slated to serve as future transfer points to the light rail, the agency said. The sessions will give commuting straphangers the opportunity to pepper MTA personnel with questions on the project and offer feedback on various aspects of it, including station design and public realm enhancements for the areas surrounding proposed stations.

At the same time, MTA customer service agents will share updates on the IBX’s progress with riders and ask how they plan on using the agency’s newest transit option once it is completed, according to the transit authority.

The workshops include activities, one of which involves riders simulating mapping out their expected IBX trips and sharing how frequently they plan to use the light rail. A separate exercise invites commuters to rank their priorities for designing IBX stations, indicating the order of importance for being informed about service, comfort, and representing their communities.

Yet another activity asks participants to illustrate their ideal trips along the IBX by using images of features such as lighting, seating, and public art.

Lisa Daglian, executive director of the rider advocacy group the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, said that while the MTA has already been doing public engagement around the project, “not enough people know about it yet.”

“The IBX is a terrific project, and the more people know about it, the better,” she said. “The best way to reach people is where they are, and that’s in stations. So, hats off.”

Daglian added that “this is something people should have a say in, people who live in the area, people who work in the area, people who visit the area that it’s going to go through, and be able to put their two cents in.”

The undertaking marks the MTA’s largest expansion of its transit system in over half a century. Using already-existing Long Island Rail Road and freight tracks, the agency will construct a new crosstown line, running through many Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods currently underserved by public transit.

Its proposed 18-stop route promises to move commuters end-to-end between Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge section and Queens’ Jackson Heights area in 32 minutes. Currently, it would require several transfers to travel between the two points by train without going through Manhattan.

The MTA says the line will offer a new transit option for nearly 900,000 people and projects to have an average weekday ridership of roughly 160,000. It will make stops across several areas with no or very limited subway access, including Canarsie, Flatlands, and Maspeth.

The pop-up events are part of the public engagement portion of the planning process, which began with an earlier series of six public workshops in April. 

The post MTA hosting IBX pop up workshops along proposed light rail line this summer first appeared on The Ocean Avenue News – oceanavenuenews.com.

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