In April 2022, we launched LICBUS.com on behalf of Hunters Point/LIC residents who had been asking the MTA for years for bus service connecting Long Island City, Queens to Manhattan via the Midtown Tunnel. Our 1-page website directed riders to submit comments to the MTA’s Queens Bus Network Redesign New Draft Plan web portal.

The MTA collects (but doesn’t publish) customer comments as part of their outreach. In May 2023, we filed a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request for comments submitted during the New Draft Plan outreach period (3/29/22-8/31/22). Initially rejected, we filed an appeal and obtained the records. Out of 1,197 web portal comments, 219 (18.3%) were in favor of an LIC-Midtown bus connection. Read selected MTA comments.

Our FOIL request and all customer comment records can be viewed and downloaded at MuckRock News. We’ve also created a version with the LIC-comments grouped together for easier reading - view it as a PDF or Excel Spreadsheet

December 12, 2023, the MTA released its Proposed Final Plan with no LIC-Midtown-Tunnel bus connection. Undeterred, we continued our efforts.

February 6, 2024, Queens Community Board 2’s Transportation Committee voted unanimously in favor of a Hunters Point/LIC-Midtown Tunnel bus.

April 6, 2024, NY State Senator Kristen Gonzalez (59th District) wrote a letter of support to the MTA for our initiative.

April 15, 2024 we launched a petition to the MTA that received over 900 signatures.

April 24, 2024 NYC Council Member Julie Won (26th District) wrote a letter of support to the MTA for our initiative.

May 13, 2024 US Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez (NY 7th District) wrote of letter of support to the MTA for our initiative.

May 14, 2024 Laura Rothrock, President, Long Island City Partnership wrote a letter of support to the MTA for our initiative.

On May 16, 2024, the MTA completed its outreach for the Proposed Final Plan for the Queens Bus Network Redesign.

On January 29, 2025, the MTA approved the final Queens Bus Network Redesign without a Hunters Point/LIC-Midtown route. But one of our proposed route ideas, the Q103 Midtown Tunnel extension, is in the Final Plan Addendum, under consideration for future implementation. We continue to advocate for this much-needed bus route.

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