Step Out of the Cold and Onto the Downtown Connection this Holiday Season

04/01/2011
Step Out of the Cold and Onto the Downtown Connection this Holiday Season

Holiday shoppers weary from carrying bags or just looking to get out of the cold can enjoy free Downtown Connection bus service around Lower Manhattan seven days a week. Provided by the Downtown Alliance, the bus service takes shoppers to all major retail corridors throughout the district.

“Lower Manhattan offers holiday shoppers infinite possibilities—from indulgences to bargains," said Elizabeth H. Berger, President of the Alliance for Downtown New York. “But while Lower Manhattan is one walkable square mile, everyone can use a break from the cold. Our heated Downtown Connection service is the perfect way to warm up and get around the district, whether you’re buying last-minute gifts or out for a special holiday dinner.”

With more than 200 store and restaurant openings since 2005, Lower Manhattan has become a premier holiday destination with an impressive assortment of gifts for all tastes and budgets—all easily accessible by the Downtown Connection.

The Downtown Alliance launched the Downtown Connection in late 2003. The buses are wheelchair-accessible and shuttled more than 834,000 workers, residents and visitors in 2009. They run at 10-minute intervals from 10 AM to 7:30 PM daily, with more limited service on weekends (there will be no service on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day). The route gives riders access to the 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, A, C, E, R, J and Z subway lines and PATH trains. It was extended last year to give riders direct access to the subway lines and retailers on Warren and Murray streets.

Earlier this fall, the Alliance installed NextBus signs at seven of the 37 stops. The signs, which list arrival times for the next two buses, are on Water, Warren, Washington, Greenwich and Pine streets, and at 4 New York Plaza. Signs on Vesey Street in Battery Park City are coming in 2011.
Downtown Connection routes and schedules are available at www.downtownny.com/downtownconnection. Passengers can even check on the buses
before they step outside. In 2004 the Downtown Alliance introduced a Web page— http://downtownny.interfleet.com/—that allows riders to pinpoint the exact location of buses throughout the day from the comfort of their offices and homes.

The bus isn’t the only way the Alliance is delivering special service for Lower Manhattan workers, residents and visitors this holiday season. The organization has also created a special holiday Web page—www.downtownny.com/holiday—that features holiday shopping and dining guides, maps, listings of deals, special events and more.

And for the first time, the Downtown Alliance is using Scanbuy 2D barcode technology to direct shoppers, diners and others to their destination of choice. Posters around the district—as well at Downtown Connection buses and bus stops—will feature barcodes that can be scanned on smart phones by using the ScanLife code reader, available from app stores or by texting SCAN to 43588. The barcode will direct users to shopping and dining guides and the Downtown Alliance’s holiday Web page.