MTA NYC Transit launched ‘Clean Slate’ redesign of Brooklyn bus network
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will be completing a comprehensive redesign of the Brooklyn local and express bus networks by redrawing the entire borough’s bus routes for the first time.
MTA announced the first series of public open houses coming this fall. This undertaking will use public feedback, multiple sources of data and analysis, and a thorough review of demographics and upcoming developments to create a bus network that reimagines service for 650,000 Brooklyn bus riders.
As part of the Fast Forward plan to modernize and transform New York City (NYC) Transit services, NYC Transit is seeking to transform the entire city’s bus networks to speed up rides and improve bus service. Most of the city’s current bus routes were implemented decades ago, with many replacing old trolley lines from the turn of the 20th century. NYC Transit will redraw those routes to take into consideration the vast changes in usage, ridership, demographics and development the city has seen. Goals of these historic redesigns include providing bus service that runs more frequently and serves more customers throughout the borough’s major corridors. To achieve such goals, NYC Transit will look for ways to straighten routes that are excessively circuitous, limiting redundancy while adding service where needed, and bolstering off-peak service and coverage.
MTA will thoroughly review all local, Select Bus Service and express bus routes in Brooklyn. Planners and MTA officials will also conduct an analysis of current and future market needs, travel trends and current bus performance and reliability. Collectively, this work will help identify enhancements such as new routes, changes to service frequency, transit priority treatments, or bus priority signaling technology. MTA staff met with the Brooklyn Borough Board in early October to provide details on public outreach and the redesign process that will take place over the coming months. Public feedback from meetings, surveys conducted in person and online, and public input sessions will help inform this process, which is scheduled for completion in 2020. Each step in the process will incorporate opportunities for public comment, including community meetings and workshops. A draft plan will undergo its own round of public outreach before a final plan is proposed, and that final proposal will also be accompanied by a round of public outreach when it is released in late 2020. The final plan will be subject to public hearing and an MTA Board vote before it can be implemented.
NYC Transit has scheduled 10 open houses to inform customers and Brooklyn residents about the project’s goals. The community is encouraged to attend and share their priorities for Brooklyn’s new bus network. Members of the public will work in tandem with MTA bus planning experts to consider factors such as frequency of service in high-ridership areas, ensuring adequate service throughout the borough and balancing bus stop spacing. Transit personnel will also conduct rider surveys at bus stops and online through a dedicated project website.
In addition, MTA personnel will be on site at locations across Brooklyn to provide information about the open houses, answer questions about the Brooklyn Bus Network Redesign and to help customers submit surveys online.
As part of the Fast Forward Plan to modernize NYC Transit, the bus networks in all five boroughs will be reimagined. Brooklyn is the fourth borough to undergo a bus network redesign, with redesigns in the Bronx and Queens currently underway. On Staten Island, a redesign of the express bus network implemented in August 2018 has led to improved service reliability and faster bus speeds by up to 12 percent.
