STATEN ISLAND — New countdown clocks were installed at three bus stops around the borough last week, as part of a funding package from Councilman Steven Matteo's office to add 15 more to the borough.
The clocks were installed at the S79 Select Bus Service and S78 stop at Hylan Boulevard and Seaview Avenue; the S78 and S53 stop at Hylan Boulevard and West Fingerboard Road; and the S53 line at Clove Road and Targee Street, Matteo announced Friday.
"There is no silver bullet for the difficult, long commutes Staten Islanders face every day, so we must keep searching for ways to make them a little easier, more predictable and more reliable," Matteo said in a statement. "Installing countdown clocks do just that."
The countdown clocks were funded as part of a $300,000 allocation from Matteo to add new ones around his district. So far, the Department of Transportation installed ones at Victory Boulevard and Jewett Avenue, Victory Boulevard and Alberta Avenue and Hylan Boulevard and New Dorp Lane.
The city also expects to add clocks to the S53, S78 and S79 stop at Hylan Boulevard and Clove Road and the X15, S74 and S76 stop at Richmond Road and Dongan Hills Avenue.
The clocks use the same GPS tracking as the MTA Bus Time application to show how many stops away a bus is, Matteo said. Each of the LED screens costs about $20,000 to put in.
