MTA Officially Approves B37 Service, For Reals This Time

The MTA has officially approved the plan to restore the B37 bus service. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle is reporting that the vote was unanimous.

Local officials had already said the return was all but certain, although the MTA declined to say the same until this week’s vote. The line connects Bay Ridge and downtown Brooklyn, and was eliminated during the 2010 service cuts for budget reasons.

The Daily Eagle also laid out other service changes and improvements expected to help people with their daily commutes:

In another development, Bay Ridge elected officials and transportation advocacy organizations like the Riders Alliance reported victories in their efforts to convince MTA to beef up other transit services in anticipation of the closure of the Montague Street Tunnel. The tunnel is scheduled to close on Aug. 2 and remain closed for 14 months. The tunnel closure is expected to wreak havoc on R train riders’ commutes into Manhattan…

The closure is taking place so that damage the tunnel sustained during Superstorm Sandy can be repaired, MTA officials said.

Among the service improvements the MTA has agreed to: a 25 percent increase in service on the X27 express bus line between Bay Ridge and midtown Manhattan; additional “gap trains” to augment service on the D, N, 4, and 5 subway lines; and having all of the escalators at the Jay Street/Metrotech R train station going “up” during the morning rush hour so that passengers can transfer quicker to the F line.