Fixing Flatbush Buses Should Be Top Of Mayor's List, Workers Say

BROOKLYN, NY — The borough's busiest bus route could be dying a "slow death" if something isn't done soon to speed up its routes, advocates said this week. Transit workers and other activists are asking the mayor to put Flatbush Avenue's B41 buses at the top of his list in a plan to improve service over the next few years.

The bus route, which runs 10 miles between Cadman Plaza and Kings Plaza, has lost 5 million riders in the last decade even as Brooklyn's population booms, according to the Transit Workers Union Local 100 chapter.

Much of the low ridership, the union said, is because of fixable problems preventing the buses from being on time, like a lack of bus lanes or traffic congestion. Only 50 percent of B41 buses are on time, one of the lowest records in the city.

“Flatbush Ave is Brooklyn’s main drag and the B41 is a critically important route in deep distress," said J.P. Patafio, TWU Local 100's vice president. “We can’t let this essential public service die a slow death."

The union has joined other advocacy groups and elected officials, who held a press conference Wednesday, in a campaign to put the Flatbush Avenue route as a top priority in Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan to improve bus service and increase the city's sluggish bus speeds by 25 percent in 2020.

De Blasio's city-wide overhaul, the group said, is much needed, but should make quick fixes, like those needed on the B41 route, its first step. With the population growing in Brooklyn and the majority of the residents without cars, the need for reliable bus service in the borough has "never been greater," Patafio said.

"While we fight for those long-term fixes, there is a lot of low-hanging fruit that we can address in the meantime, including the addition of dedicated bus lanes and camera enforcement along the B41 bus route in Brooklyn,” said Nick Sifuentes, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.

The Flatbush Avenue campaign asks that the route be given bus-only lanes, some of which should be physically separated from other drivers, even if just by traffic cones. Advocates say the section between Grand Army Plaza and Downtown on Flatbush would be the perfect place for a two-mile physically separated bus lane that the mayor said would be part of a pilot program for the bus service overhaul.

A map of the city's bus lanes shows that small portions of the bus route have lanes, but for the large part do not.

The campaign also requests that there is more enforcement against illegal dollar-van drivers who exacerbate traffic and new technology installed to allow buses to move more quickly through intersections.

Each of these improvements could help the bus route move from its current F grade by the TransitCenter, to an A grade, Transit Center Advocacy Associate Ashley Pryce said.

“It’s no secret that New York City’s buses are some of the slowest in the country, which is why we applaud Mayor De Blasio’s leadership in releasing an ambitious and much needed plan to bring better bus service to the city’s riders," she said. "There are few routes more indicative of the need for change than the B41."

Photo of Flatbush Ave. by Spencer Platt/Getty Images.