Local 106 members and officers joined by City Council Member Amanda Farias to educate Bus Riders of the MTA’s dangerous plan to reassign Road Supervisors
MTA Dispatcher Reassignments Threaten Bus Service and Rider Safety
The Transit Authority is moving forward with a plan to eliminate 26 Bus Dispatcher positions from the streets and reassign these supervisors to the Bus Command Center. While the agency claims this move will “improve efficiency,” the reality for riders and communities will be far different—and far more dangerous.
What This Means for Riders
Removing Bus Dispatchers from street operations will lead to longer wait times, unreliable service, and increased safety risks at bus stops across the city. Dispatchers are the first line of real-time support on the street—managing delays, assisting operators, stabilizing schedules, responding to emergencies, and providing a uniformed presence at some of the busiest and most vulnerable transit locations.
Without them:
- Gaps between buses will grow.
- Delays will last longer—and cascade across entire routes.
- Operators lose critical on-site support.
- Riders lose the safety and security of trained Transit Supervisors on the street.
For thousands of daily riders, especially seniors, students, workers, and those traveling late at night, this change will make the system less reliable and less safe.
A Silent Crisis Inside the Command System
Adding to the concern is the Transit Authority’s $294 million radio system, which has already proven to be a disaster. The new system has suffered:
- dropped calls
- overlapping transmissions
- system outages
- broken connections that knock one call offline when another begins
This failing infrastructure is the “dirty secret” the agency doesn’t want anyone talking about. Instead of fixing the system, the TA is pulling essential Dispatchers off the streets and forcing them into an already unstable command environment.
Who Pays the Price?
The riders. The workers. The neighborhoods that rely on dependable bus service every day.
Dispatchers have always stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the public—at terminals, at stops, and anywhere help is needed. They are the first to respond when something goes wrong. Removing them from the street is not modernization—it is abandonment.
The Bottom Line
The MTA’s reassignment plan puts service quality, worker support, and public safety at risk. Communities deserve a transit system that invests in front-line supervision—not one that strips it away.
