Queens

, Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Trip Length (NYC Transit Authority Routes Only)
Bus trips on Northeast Queens routes exhibit slightly longer trips than those in the rest of Queens.
Weekday trips are 9.9% longer than trips made in other parts of Queens. The two sets of Queens routes
were compared with a t‐test, and the average trip lengths are meaningfully different to a confidence
interval greater than 90%.
Table 17. Weekday Average Trip Comparisons
Weekday Average Trip Length
Set Of Routes
(Miles)
Queens Routes 2.81
Northeast Queens Routes 2.90
Non‐NE Queens Routes 2.64
Within the set of Northeast Queens NYCT bus routes there is a considerable amount of variance in the
average trip length. The longest average trips are seen on the Q27 Limited, where trips are almost 5 miles
long. The average trip length for Q1 customers is 4.1 miles and 3.71 miles for Q46 Limited customers, the
second and third longest trips among bus routes in the study area. The Q20B and Q26 customers have the
shortest average trip lengths on weekdays at 1.55 miles and 1.79 miles, respectively. These two routes
are the only bus routes in Northeast Queens that have average trips less than two miles. The full table of
weekday average trip length for Northeast Queens NYCT bus routes is located in Appendix C: Additional
Data of this report.
Transfers
Bus‐to‐Subway Transfers by Route
Of the 29 local bus routes in Northeast Queens, nine are specifically designated as subway “feeder” routes,
where more than half of customers on these routes are primarily interested in getting to a subway for the
remainder of their journey. The remaining routes, called “grid” routes, see fluctuating ridership along the
route with customers boarding and alighting throughout the entire length of the route, but also serve
subway stations as well. It is unsurprising that a significant number of bus trips are followed by a swipe
into a subway station. On an average weekday in May, 58,300 bus customers transferred from Northeast
Queens routes to a subway. Assuming that customers make round trips doubles this number, over a third
(39.0%) of bus trips are also associated with a subway journey. The following table presents routes in
Northeast Queens by the amount of passengers they deliver to subway stations for an additional journey.
It also compares the number of transfers to total ridership. It is evident from this fraction that for some
routes within Northeast Queens the most important function is feeding to the subway. For determining
the number of bus trips that are associated with a subway trip, it was assumed that every bus‐to‐subway
transfer generates a symmetrical subway‐to‐bus transfer as well.
Table 18. Bus‐to‐Subway Weekday Transfers by Bus Route (May 2014)
Route
Bus‐To‐Subway
Transfers Weekday Ridership
Portion of Trips
Subway Transfer
Q26 586 1,492 79%
Q64 3,982 10,943 73%
Q16 1,221 4,144 59%
Q46 5,963 23,507 51%
Q36 1,505 6,376 47%
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