B44 Select Bus Service (SBS): Part 1 Of 3 — It’s Too Late to Make Changes


by on Mar 18th, 2013

THE COMMUTE: According to Theresa Scavo, chairperson of Community Board 15, the MTA stated that it is now too late to request additional stops to the B44 Select Bus Service (SBS) because maps have already been printed. She made that announcement at this month’s Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association (MBNA) meeting. She also stated that the board is still fighting the reduction in available parking spaces. However, that is the least of the problems this route will cause.

If it is too late to add an SBS stop at Avenue R, a likely assumption would be that it is also too late to change the route as I recommended back in 2011. I suggested that the southern portion of the B44 SBS terminate off-route at the Sheepshead Bay station instead of at Knapp Street and Voorhies Avenue, using Avenue Z to get to the station supplementing B36 service.

Whether you agree with me or not is not really important now. What is important is that I received assurances from the MTA Project Director Ted Orosz at the last B44 SBS Workshop that he would investigate my suggestion and get back to me in three months. He also stated that if they agreed that it was feasible to do, and it was something the community wanted, they would change their plans. He never investigated it, nor got back to me as promised.

Is SBS Working?

By most indications, SBS works well on Pelham Parkway / Fordham Road in The Bronx. It also works fairly well on First Avenue and Second Avenue (M15) in Manhattan. However, there have been complaints that, since its inception, service has actually increased wait times for a local bus. Riders have reported that as many as five or seven SBS buses arrive in a row before they see a local. M15 riders also have been unfairly ticketed. Will that also happen on the B44 or will fare abuse run as rampant as others think? Or will the route be a huge success, as still some others believe?

The M34 SBS does not work at all and only saves riders a minute or two because there is no enforcement of the exclusive bus lane. The jury on the S79 in Staten Island is still out since traffic signal synchronization has not yet been implemented. The important thing to remember is that, although SBS has been moderately successful, the MTA and DOT — its partner on this project — have greatly exaggerated the success of SBS by collecting and presenting incomplete data.

For example, the MTA contends that although vehicular capacity has been reduced on First and Second avenues due to the creation of exclusive bus and bicycle lanes, there has been a minimal effect on volume, and speed has not been reduced. That is stated on Page 20 of their One Year Progress Report. However, there are no traffic counts shown for Third Avenue, Lexington Avenue, York Avenue or Avenue A to determine if the traffic from First and Second avenues was not merely diverted to those streets, making them more congested.

They talk of increased ridership on the M15 but never asked riders if they formerly used the subway and merely shifted their trip to bus or if they previously rode the Third and Lexington routes. Shifting riders from subways to buses is less efficient and increases operating costs because additional buses and manpower are necessary. The MTA would like us to believe that the additional ridership on the M15 is the result of all new trips, while not actually going as far as saying that. They would also like us to believe that the M15 is widely accepted by all riders, but on Page 19, they bury the fact that only half of the local riders approve of the SBS.

Viewing Each SBS Route By Itself

Each route must be viewed on its own merit. One cannot assume that if SBS works well on one route, it will work well all over. That is just not the case. SBS works the best on routes where the average trip length is longer than average, and the streets can be redesigned to speed the buses while minimally impacting existing traffic.

That is not the case for all the proposed routes. For example, the average trip length on the B44 is only 2.3 miles, average for the system. It has been estimated by the MTA that the average passenger will only save only 4.4 minutes. Is it worth this undertaking for that type of savings, which can be the difference in your trip just by catching or missing a bus? Wouldn’t have choosing another corridor resulted in larger timesavings for the customer?

It would seem that SBS routes to LaGuardia or JFK will result in major timesavings for passengers because those trips would definitely be longer than the average 2.3-mile trip. It is a fallacy to assume that just because SBS works well in The Bronx and also works somewhat on First and Second avenues in Manhattan, that it will also work also on the B44. On Nostrand Avenue, it will help those making longer than average bus trips, not make a difference to some, and will hurt many others. Whether more will be helped than hurt remains to be seen, but don’t expect that information from the MTA or DOT.

Future Corridors

Three SBS routes are planned for LaGuardia Airport; one for The Bronx and an SBS route on Woodhaven Boulevard has already been decided. Future routes in Brooklyn are also being considered: one for Utica Avenue and another across Southern Brooklyn, partly operating on 86th Street. A route on Utica Avenue may make sense south of Eastern Parkway, but not for the entire length of the B46 route where street width is a problem. Trying to operate an SBS route on a two-lane street under an elevated line such as on 86th Street is insane. The routes to LaGuardia may be successful because of the longer than average trips needed to reach an airport. SBS on Woodhaven Boulevard will be a disaster.

The public comment period on seeking funds for a preliminary engineering study of Woodhaven Boulevard (Project X77275) to redesign it for SBS has already begun. This is not a study to determine if SBS is needed. That has already been decided without community input or notification. The period to comment on the proposed engineering study is currently open now through March 22 (the period began March 13). I already explained how this route will negatively impact southern Brooklyn here and here. You can submit your comments in writing to: David.drits@dot.ny.gov before 4:00 p.m. of the closing date.

Not only has the Woodhaven community not been consulted about this future SBS route, DOT and MTA documentation is not even consistent. According to the DOT website, Woodhaven Boulevard is considered as a future corridor. However, that information is buried in one line on page 3 of a document called “Future Corridors.” A detailed map appears on page 18 of a document called “Public Input” where you would not think of looking for information regarding future corridors.

To make matters worse, the MTA website contains no information at all about the Woodhaven Corridor and it is also omitted from the map and description on pages 28 and 29 of the document “Introduction to Bus Rapid Transit Phase II.” Funding, however, is being requested for an engineering study to begin design work.

Next week: Why the B44 SBS is Different from Other SBS Routes and more about conflicting information that is being provided by the MTA and DOT.

The Commute is a weekly feature highlighting news and information about the city’s mass transit system and transportation infrastructure. It is written by Allan Rosen, a Manhattan Beach resident and former Director of MTA/NYC Transit Bus Planning (1981).

Disclaimer: The above is an opinion column and may not represent the thoughts or position of Sheepshead Bites. Based upon their expertise in their respective fields, our columnists are responsible for fact-checking their own work, and their submissions are edited only for length, grammar and clarity. If you would like to submit an opinion piece or become a regularly featured contributor, please e-mail nberke [at] sheepsheadbites [dot] com.

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  • winson

    SBS along Utica Avenue is a replacement of the IND Utica Avenue which would have served Floyd Bennett Field and Kings Plaza. SBS on Nostrand Avenue is a replacement of the IRT extension which would have bought the 2 train down to where KCC is today. I rode on a bus down Woodhaven Blvd in December and it was pretty fast. There should be no buses running under 86th Street all. The elevated West End Line and constant double parking causes heavy congestion. LGA needs rail service. It was a pity the BMT Astoria Line extension was scrapped in 2003

    • Allan Rosen

      Exactly, Woodhaven buses are already fast because traffic moves well most of the time and isn’t even that bad in rush hour. Moves twice as well as Ocean Parkway. SBS would only save buses 3 to 5 minutes from end to end. The average passenger won’t save more than a minute or two, but cars and trucks will take at least 15 minutes more to make the trip.

      86th Street needs buses but not SBS. I was on it today and traffic moved very well under the el. Almost no congestion at all.

  • morralkan

    On first Avenue Manhattan, the SBS bus is fine .. but only if you do not need to go to one of the local stops. In that case, you can easily wait for 30 minutes for a local to come by, as you watch 4 or 5 half empty SBS buses speed past you.
    On 34th street, the problem was never really the regular buses themselves, but rather that the M34 was always very crowded during rush hour. Often times, it was merely the act of getting on or off the bus that was time-consuming, not paying the fare. In addition, the 34 often has sick and elderly people going to NYU medical center and Bellevue, people who have difficulty negotiating the steps. There are so many trucks, other buses, garbage trucks, and ambulances/ambulettes on 34th street that an exclusive bus lane is impractical, except at the times of day when there is already little or no traffic.
    The MTA does what it wants, not necessarily what is needed or what its customers want. Sort of the way Emperor Bloomberg runs HIS city.

    • Allan Rosen

      I took the S79 today. I think the bus was maybe 2 minutes quicker than when it was a local but the stop I needed was 8 blocks from the closest SBS stop. I thought I would just change for the local, but it only operates every 15 minutes and that’s if the bus is on time so I walked rather than wait. The extra walk took 10 minutes, so with the 2 or 3 minutes I saved, the net result was a loss of 8 minutes.

      Bottom line, I don’t think it makes sense to have SBS if you can’t schedule the locals at 10 every minutes unless the local stops are extremely lightly used. I don’t know if that is the case. If that is the case, why are there so many bus shelters?

  • sonicboy678

    It really doesn’t help that the MTA thinks that the stop at St. John’s Place is adequate when the subway is two-to-four streets away, one of which is a street that you REALLY don’t want to cross (Eastern Parkway). If I do leave the subway system at Nostrand Avenue (IRT Eastern Parkway Line), I head to Empire Boulevard (which is far longer to reach and not much better an intersection). Point is, as much as the stop at St. John’s Place works, it only works properly north of Eastern Parkway, which has more connections in range.

    • Allan Rosen

      I don’t understand what you are saying. The only subway passengers that need to transfer between the subway and the B44 at Eastern Parkway are those coming from the New Lots Avenue Line. I don’t believe very many do that and I think they can walk to St Johns Place if they really want the SBS. I don’t think crossing Eastern Parkway is that big of a deal.

  • sonicboy678

    I also see Flatbush Avenue SBS. My reaction? Not a good idea. Flatbush Avenue is prone to traffic jams and some stretches of road are narrower than others, even if there’s still two traffic lanes. I am especially concerned about sections near Kings Highway, Nostrand Avenue, Church Avenue, and Atlantic Avenue. If they consider extending the route to Manhattan, add in Fulton Street, Myrtle Avenue, and Tillary Street due to extreme congestion. It’s not to say Utica Avenue and Avenue U should be lost in translation. Flatbush Avenue is generally much wider in that area, so it’s not quite as bad as it is for most of the corridor.

    • Allan Rosen

      Flatbush Avenue was ruled out as an SBS route when Nostrand was chosen. About 5 routes were considered. The last two considered were Nostrand and Flatbush. Nostrand was chosen over Flatbush so I doubt there ever will be a Flatbush Ave SBS.

      • sonicboy678

        That’s only a slight relief (emphasis on slight).

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