The new Bay Ridge bus map, effective this Sunday, June 27. The B37 is gone, the B70 is rerouted to compensate. The B1 and B64 switch places, and the B8 runs past the VA Hospital only late-night.

The doomsday cuts, the cuts that were not supposed to happen, are suddenly upon us because the State or the Federal government did not save us.  Doomsday is this Sunday. That is the day when Southern Brooklyn will lose the M-train and many bus lines, some entirely; other bus routes will lose overnight or weekend service, and some routes will be restructured. Click here for the new Brooklyn bus map, in effect starting Sunday, June 27.

The bus cuts, as they relate to Southern Brooklyn, are…

Express Buses

The X37, and X38 to Midtown will become part of the X27 and X28, respectively so that Midtown passengers will first get a sightseeing tour of Lower Manhattan adding about 15 minutes to their trip. The X29 that operates only during weekday rush hours will be eliminated entirely.

Reduced Hours

Weekend service will be lost on the B2, X27 and X28.  Overnight service will be lost on the B7, B31 and B64. The B9 and B16 will lose a few hours of service at the beginning and end of the day.

Shortened Routes

The B3 will be chopped off in Bergen Beach and will now terminate on Avenue U.  The B8 will be chopped at the VA Hospital (except during late nights when the B70 does not operate) instead of terminating at the 95th Street Station of the R-train in Bay Ridge.  The B64 will be chopped at 25th Avenue and will no longer serve Coney Island. The B4 will no longer operate on Neptune Avenue, but instead will use Avenue Z. It will also now terminate at Coney Island Hospital at all times when it operates, except on Monday through Friday between 7 AM and 10 AM and from 2 PM to 5 PM, when it will continue to serve Plum Beach.

Eliminated Routes and Restructured Bay Ridge Service

The B23 that operates along 16th Avenue and Cortelyou Road will be eliminated entirely.  The B37 will be eliminated, but the southern end of the B70 will replace it in Bay Ridge by being diverted from 8th Avenue to 3rd Avenue.  Finally, the B1 and B64 will swap routes with each other at 86th Street and 13th Avenue.  The B1 will continue along 86th Street to 4th Avenue while the B64 will serve southern 13th Avenue and western Bay Ridge Avenue.

Negative Impact – Overcrowding, Longer Waits, Longer Walks

Although a few modifications were made as a result of the public hearing held on March 3rd, these cuts are still devastating if your route is affected.  The R train will be overloaded at DeKalb Avenue and the D (West End) will be more crowded during rush hours.  Riders will be forced to endure longer walks.  Riders along Bay Ridge Avenue will also wait longer for a bus, since the B64 operates less frequently than the B1 that currently serves that street. Only a few people will benefit, those who travel along 86th Street will have a more direct trip if they have to cross 13th Avenue.  Some trips which previously required two buses to complete, will now require three buses, and for this privilege of having to take an extra bus, you will also be charged an additional fare if you don’t have an unlimited pass.

Lack Of Transparency Into Service Cut Rationale

While some cuts were probably necessary due to the MTA’s budget situation, the problem with these cuts is that a consistent methodology was not followed. The process was not transparent.  The MTA laid out criteria but never explained how they were used. The result was routes being eliminated which were more efficient than others that were retained.  For example the X27 and X28, eliminated on weekends are far more efficient than virtually every express route operated by the MTA Bus Company on weekends where weekend service is being retained.  The B4, which was originally going to be cut east of Coney Island Hospital at all times, has had some weekday service to Plumb Beach retained when it would have been more cost efficient to retain weekend service instead.

Since the MTA loses money for every rider it carries, it has no interest in making the system easier to use which would attract riders and necessitate more service. Instead, their goal is to provide less service, which reduces costs, but also reduces revenue by deterring riders, since the system becomes more difficult to use. At the same time, the City touts leave your car at home and use mass transit.

The author is a Former Director of MTA NYCT Bus Planning (1981).

(Starting in July, the B4 disappears on weekends. Photo credit: Brian Hedden)

[UPDATE Jan-23-2010] The MTA released a much more detailed – and slightly revised – service reduction plan a few hours after I posted this. The story has been updated to reflect this revised plan. New cuts are in italics, saved routes are struck out.

Nobody likes the MTA’s proposed service cuts – not even an MTA apologist like me. But Dyker Heights residents probably have more reason to be upset than most. The service cuts that are currently on the table would eliminate weekend service on two of the bus routes that serve the transit-poor neighborhood (the B4 and X28), and cut weekday hours on a third (B16). So unsurprisingly, members of the Dyker Heights Civic Association signed not one, but two petitions aimed at staving off service cuts. (YourNabe.com)

I went through the MTA’s comprehensive list of proposed cuts and listed the ones that affect South Brooklyn below. These changes are scheduled to go into effect in July.

Subway Changes

• M-train – no more rush-hour service between Bensonhurst and Manhattan
• N-train – no changes to Brooklyn service, but after the Manhattan Bridge, it will change from the Broadway Express track to the Broadway Local track in order to replace W-train service
• All trains – Decreased frequency all times except rush hour and very late night

Bus – Routes Eliminated

• B23 – Borough Park/Flatbush (via 16th Ave & Cortelyou)
• B37 – Bay Ridge/Downtown Brooklyn (via 3rd Ave)… BUT the B70 will be rerouted to replace the Bay Ridge portion of this route
• X29 – Coney Island/Midtown (via Coney Island Avenue)
• X37 – Bay Ridge/FDR Express (route consolidated with X27 to make stops between Downtown and Midtown)
  
• X38 – Sea Gate/FDR Express (route consolidated with X38 to make stops between Downtown and Midtown)

Bus – Shortened Lines

• B3 – Bergen Beach spur discontinued (E.  73rd and E. 74th Street service)
  
• B4 – Sheepshead Bay service discontinued (between Coney Island Avenue and Knapp Street)
• B8 – Bay Ridge service discontinued (between the VA Hospital and 4th Avenue)
  
• B64 – Coney Island service discontinued (between 25th Avenue and Stillwell Avenue subway terminal)
  

Bus – No More Weekend Service

• B2 – Kings Highway Q Station/Kings Plaza Mall
• B4 – Bay Ridge/Sheepshead Bay (via Bay Ridge Parkway, Neptune Ave, Emmons Ave)
• B7 – Flatlands/Bedford-Stuyvesant (via Kings Highway) [saved]
• X27 – Bay Ridge to Midtown
• X28 – Bensonhurst to Midtown

Bus – No More Overnight Service

Gerritsen Beach will lose its overnight access.

• B7 – Flatlands/Bedford-Stuyvesant (via Kings Highway)
• B31 – Gerritsen Beach/Kings Highway Q station
• B64 – Bay Ridge/Bath Beach (via Bath Ave)

Bus – Shorter Hours During The Day

• B2 – Kings Highway Q Station/Kings Plaza Mall
• B9 – Bay Ridge/Kings Plaza Mall
• B16 – Bay Ridge/Lefferts Gardens (via Ft. Hamilton Parkway, 13th/14th Aves)
• B70 – Fort Hamilton/Sunset Park waterfront (via 8th Ave) [saved]
  

Bus – Rerouted Lines

• B1 – East of 13th Avenue, continues straight down 86th Street to 4th Avenue instead of Bay Ridge Avenue to Owl’s Head Park
  
• B64 – East of 13th Avenue, goes down Bay Ridge Avenue to Owl’s Head Park instead of down 86th Street to 4th Avenue
  
• B70 – Between Bay Ridge Avenue and 92nd Street, goes down 3rd Avenue instead of 7th/8th Avenues

Fares

• Student MetroCard discount reduced from 100% to 50% for the 2010-2011 school year, and eliminated begining with the 2011-2012 school year.

A few random thoughts:

1. Idle speculation: I think there’s a 50% chance Albany and/or City Hall fully funds the student MetroCard program. 0% chance they restore any other cuts.

2. No one is happy about the subway cuts, but I think the worst part of the plan is in the loss of overnight and weekend buses – i.e. the loss of the Dyker weekend routes, the loss of the Gerritsen overnight route.

3. I’m going to miss having the B4 on weekends. I can, and often have, taken the N-to-the-R to get to some parts of Bay Ridge, but the B4 is still my lifeline to places like The Salty Dog, and it’s a must for getting to the heart of Dyker Heights.

4. It’s theoretically possible that Dyker Heights and Gerritsen Beach can save its bus routes, but the money just isn’t there. The only plausible scenario is that another bus service that isn’t currently on the chopping block gets axed in order to save these routes. So don’t hold your breath.

5. You already know how I feel about the misplaced MTA-hate that’s been churning lately. I’ll also echo On Transport’s myth-busting.

6. We call it Doomsday, but it could be worse. I’m crossing my fingers and hoping that it doesn’t get worse.