The Commute: The MTA Is Operating A Free Bus Service

THE COMMUTE: The MTA has a problem and they know it. How do you most efficiently transport 1,500 passengers by bus from Kingsborough Community College to the subway every afternoon during the peak 30 minutes between Monday and Thursday?

I wrote about this problem numerous times, citing very long waits for Manhattan Beach and Brighton Beach passengers because all buses leave the college packed, leaving no room for others to board until the buses reach the subway. Some bus operators still do not make all stops after leaving the college, even when buses are not full. In 2014, I documented 14 buses in a row bypassing waiting passengers at West End Avenue.

I also documented problems with overcrowded buses in the mornings at Coney Island Avenue, counting up to 93 passengers on a 40-foot bus between 9:00am and noon. I attended half a dozen meetings with MTA supervisory operating personnel, and each time was given assurances that the problems would be resolved. They no longer respond to my complaints.

Now We Have A New Twist

Several months ago, a few B44 SBS articulated buses were assigned to ease overcrowding and quicken loading times to the B49. The buses operated between the college and Sheepshead Bay Road train station between 3:00pm and 5:00pm. However, the impact has been minimal because most of the students patronize the B1, not the B49. The 40-foot B49 shuttle buses previously operating usually carried a dozen passengers or less. (I once questioned why B49 shuttles were needed at all.) A few of the articulated bus trips around 5:00pm do get crowded, but the problem of bypassing waiting passengers still exists.

My Monthly Trip

Once a month, I meet with some friends for dinner near Herald Square. The trip takes an average of an hour door to door. I have made the trip in as little as 45 minutes with good connections. However, it is difficult to estimate the wait for the bus to the subway. In November, I was 20 minutes late. After waiting 20 minutes for a bus, I finally decided to walk the three quarters of a mile to the train station. At times, I chose to ride the bus in the wrong direction to the college where I would change for the next departing bus instead of gambling if a bus would stop. This time, there were no buses headed toward the college. Soon after arriving at the bus stop, an overcrowded B1 flew by. Behind that bus was a B49 articulated bus, so I was sure I would be able to board. That bus also bypassed the stop with only about 75 passengers aboard. I decided to walk over the Ocean Avenue footbridge.

When I arrived at Emmons Avenue, a B49 stopped for me to board, so I could ride for the last few blocks. I expressed my anger to the bus operator, telling him that the two buses ahead of him did not stop. He was very nice and apologized for them. I asked why the articulated bus did not stop even though it was not full. He explained that they are special buses stopping only at selected stops since not all the bus stops are long enough to accommodate them. I asked which stops they stopped at and he did not know.

My January Trip

Since the weather turned cooler, I was in no mood to wait up to a half hour for a bus so I checked to see if there was a bus going toward the college. There was one a few blocks away so I waited for it. As luck would have it, a B1 bus stopped in the correct direction, so I needlessly rode the minute or two it took to get to the college. I was forced to get off at Kensington Street, which became the last stop since the bus would not go as far as Mackenzie Street, the last scheduled stop, although there was room for the bus to stop closer. (This is another common problem residents have been complaining about for years.) A B1 and an articulated B49 were loading. Only a handful of passengers boarded the B49. A second articulated bus was also waiting in the layover area.

I boarded the B49 and saw that there was no slot in the farebox to insert my MetroCard. The operator motioned for me to just get on, and informed everyone that Avenue U is the last stop. There is no one else waiting for the bus all the way to the subway. When we reached Emmons Avenue, one passenger got off. I decide to strike up a conversation with the bus driver, and asked him if he would have stopped at all bus stops in Manhattan Beach if passengers were waiting. He told me that he saw no reason why not and that he was unaware of only some bus stops being authorized for the articulated buses.

Since it was 5:00pm on a weekday, I thought that after the last stop at Avenue U, the bus would become a B44 SBS at that point, so I asked if that were the case. I was told that the bus was going back to the depot. That made no sense to me. Why would an articulated bus be taken out of service at the height of the rush hour and not used on the route for which it was purchased, the B44 SBS? The operator also told me that the articulated buses were not difficult to drive, but that you had to be extremely careful to look around every time the bus made a turn. Then I got off and wished him a nice day.

So What Do We Have Here?

We have the MTA operating a free bus service, primarily for Kingsborough students, in an effort to reduce overcrowding and reduce dwell times, although revenue loss is minimal, since virtually all riders are transferring to the subway. We have a bus, which it is unclear if it is supposed to make all stops or only designated ones. We have bus routes that still bypass passengers waiting at bus stops, even though they are not full. Finally we have a bus that helps relieve crowding for a few trips but makes many trips with a small number of passengers and doesn’t really address the problems.

There Are More Effective Ways To Solve The Problems

I always criticize the MTA for not thinking out of the box. Now they are doing just that but are not making a significant impact at improving efficiency or in reducing wait times at bus stops between the college and the subway. Since the B1 is the favored route, an articulated bus shuttle on the B1 making only two stops would make much more sense. However, Ulmer Park Depot, which operates the B1, currently does not have articulated buses.

The MTA could also station a bus dispatcher at Coney Island Avenue whenever it is heavily utilized, with bus dispatchers holding buses for arriving trains and allowing rear boarding. There should also be better bus dispatching at the college, whereby shuttle buses stand at the closest points to the college and leave before the line haul buses when more than one bus is loading. That would encourage better utilization of short line buses leaving more room on the other buses. Kingsborough Community College could also assist more, and running times could be made more realistic.

Previously I recommended a B44 SBS branch operating direct from Emmons Avenue non-stop to the college. Underutilized buses would operate with a full load in the off-peak direction since students travel during times contrary to the predominant traffic flow. If the MTA can operate an unadvertised, free bus, they certainly can designate some B49 buses to operate on the pre-1978 route directly on Ocean Avenue. They would bypass the subway station and thereby save many students at least 10 minutes on their long bus journey, in addition to operating costs. More shuttle buses to the subway would be needed at school dismissal times. The MTA needs to try harder to solve the problems on these bus routes.

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.