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'Nerd Bus' Proposed to Connect Tech Hubs Around New York

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | August 3, 2012 11:27am

LONG ISLAND CITY — Hipsters have the Rockabus to shuttle them from Brooklyn to the Rockaways and now nerds might have a bus all of their own.

With new tech hubs developing around the city, Sen. Charles Schumer wants the MTA to create a “nerd bus” that would connect them.

The new bus would drive growth in Downtown Brooklyn, where several tech schools and companies are located, and Long Island City, where a tech incubator was proposed, and would create a "tech highway" for the city's tech savvy crowd, Schumer claims.

“You don’t need a PhD to know the nerd bus is a no-brainer,” he said.

On July 19 the MTA announced that along with other service restorations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, it is proposing two new routes: the Brooklyn Tech Triangle route and the Williamsburg Waterfront route.

Schumer recently wrote a letter to MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota, requesting “the extension of bus services in Brooklyn in order to create a route connecting Brooklyn and Queens Tech Coast,” since "the only thing separating these neighborhoods in New York City is a lack of transit connections."

The bus would also connect the hubs with the Cornell Tech Campus, first at Google’s New York City Headquarters in Manhattan and then at its new Roosevelt Island Campus set to open in 2017.

“New York is seeing a major tech boom, with Brooklyn and Long Island City leading the way, and now the new Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island is going to be a game changer that further cements New York’s position as a leader in tech,” Schumer said.

“Connecting these neighborhoods would be a great boon for the tech industry, providing easy transportation between the emerging tech hubs and connecting industry with education and vice-versa."

Kevin Ortiz, an MTA spokesman, said Friday that “while we have not received the Senator's letter, we appreciate his interest. We constantly study ridership and growth to better serve our customers, as evidenced by the $29.5 million in service investments we announced last month.”