Beep: Probe old buses in poor nabes

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams on Monday called for an investigation into the way the MTA distributes its buses, a day after the Daily News reported that Brooklyn’s poorest residents are stuck with some of the oldest buses.

“We want to really drill down on whether it is an internal mistake, or did something systemic happen,” said Adams (photo). “What systems are they using to make sure they’re fairly allocating buses to those in need?”

Adams called for oversight hearings by the City Council and state Legislature to examine the issue.

The News found that East New York and Brownsville, areas with a median annual household income under $40,000, are more likely to be served by 21-year-old diesel buses than wealthier neighborhoods on the western end of the borough.

Councilman Rafael Espinal (D-Brooklyn), whose district includes East New York, said the situation with the buses only emboldens his previous push to make the MTA’s entire bus fleet fully electric.

“I’m urging the MTA to not only expedite their switch to electric buses, but to prioritize these neighborhoods that have been stuck with diesel buses,” said Espinal.

Espinal is a member of the City Council’s Transportation Committee.

The MTA told The News Friday that the old RTS-06 diesel buses at the East New York and Flatbush depots, which serve some of the city’s neediest communities, would be swapped out by the end of the year.

“It’s beyond too little, too late,” Adams said of the MTA’s plan. “Correcting the wrong should not move us away from examining the past.”

Seventeen bus routes serve East New York or Brownsville, and the average age of the vehicles running on nine of those lines is more than 10 years.

Park Slope, Williamsburg and Greenpoint, where residents’ incomes average twice that of people on the eastern end of Brooklyn, also have 17 bus routes within their borders. Just three routes in those neighborhoods have buses 10 years old or older.