Local Pols Renew Call For MTA To Make Avenue R Stop On Nostrand Avenue’s B44 SBS Route

Following complaints from neighbors that the new Select Bus Service route on Nostrand Avenue, which replaced the B44’s Limited service, left them walking too far for a faster ride, local pols renewed their demand that the MTA add Avenue R as a stop.

The pols – Council members Chaim Deutsch and Alan Maisel, and Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein – said during a press conference yesterday they have been pressing the MTA for the additional stop for nearly a year. Currently, the SBS Nostrand line makes stops at Avenue U and Kings Highway, nearly a mile apart.

The pols said that Avenue R is the perfect place for an additional stop, serving as a transfer point for two other bus routes – the B2 and B31. It’s also near several large medical centers, and commuters have to choose between walking up to half a mile, or waiting 30 minutes for a local bus.

“While waiting for a local bus at Avenue R, many commuters watch as three or four SBS buses drive by, often empty or nearly empty,” said Deutsch in a press release. “Meanwhile, when the local bus finally arrives, it is usually packed with passengers from previous stops. It is intolerable that anyone, especially a senior, should be forced to stand and wait for a local bus for so long, particularly in harsh weather such as extreme cold, heat, rain or snow.”

Maisel also noted the density of seniors in the area, and said they’re poorly served by the current SBS route.

“For too long, the MTA has ignored the pleas of our community to give us a Select Bus Stop at Nostrand Avenue and Avenue R. Many of our seniors cannot get to the other Select Bus Stops, and we have a very high concentration of elderly and disabled people who desperately need a more convenient means of accessing Select Bus Service,” said Maisel.

Weinstein noted that the Avenue R intersection was previously considered important enough to be served by a B44 Limited bus, and should qualify for an SBS stop as well.

“There is no reason why an elderly person, or an individual with a disability, should have to walk nearly half of a mile in order to take advantage of quicker bus transportation, especially in inclement weather,” said Weinstein. “I urge the MTA to post an Select Bus Service Stop at Nostrand Avenue and Avenue R, which was both a Limited and Local Bus stop before Select Bus Service was instituted.”

During a meeting with the local pols, an MTA rep and the public in June 2014, the MTA rep said Avenue R didn’t have enough ridership to merit the stop’s creation. Additionally, it would be too difficult to create the stop as it would mean destroying a private driveway, or removing trees.