MTA To Cut 4 Brooklyn Stops On B38 Route With Switch To Longer Buses

DOWNTOWN/FORT GREENE/CLINTON HILL – The MTA has announced additional changes to the B38 route to accommodate longer buses that will be introduced in September.

Bklyner reported last week that the B15, B38, and B54 buses will see changes to their schedules—adding one to three minutes between wait times. The MTA will also start using articulated buses for the B38 line, which travels from Downtown Brooklyn to Ridgewood via DeKalb and Lafayette Avenues. The 64-foot articulated buses can carry 115 passengers as opposed to 85 on the standard 40-foot buses.

To accommodate the longer B38 buses, stops marked “Stop Adjustment” on the above map will be lengthened, according to information shared by Community Board 2. The map shows “changes to B38 stops which were necessary in order to facilitate the articulated buses and ensure the overall route’s efficiency.”

The stops that require adjustments include:

Cadman Plaza West & Tillary Street
Tillary Street & Cadman Plaza East
Carlton Avenue (on DeKalb)
Franklin Avenue
Bedford Avenue (on DeKalb)
DeKalb & Broadway
Bushwick Avenue
Evergreen Avenue (westbound)
Myrtle Avenue (eastbound)
Wilson Avenue
Irving Avenue (westbound)
Wyckoff Avenue (eastbound)
Stanhope Street & Grandview Avenue

New York City Transit (NYCT) also plans to eliminate four stops on the B38 route including Ashland Place where the curb space is too short for articulated buses.

The eliminated stops on the B38 route in Brooklyn include:

Ashland Place
Kossuth Place & Broadway
Bushwick Avenue (westbound)
Cypress Avenue

The agency notes that the Ashland Place stop is close to the Fort Greene Place and Flatbush Avenue stops. Riders are advised to use the Fort Greene Place stop when traveling to Brooklyn Hospital Center.

NYCT hopes to introduce the articulated buses for the B38 route around Labor Day.

The Myrtle Ave Brooklyn Partnership BID recently launched a change.org petition against the planned B54 service changes arguing that wait times will increase and buses will become more crowded. The B54 runs from Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn via Myrtle Avenue to Palmetto Street/St. Nicholas Avenue in Ridgewood.