Crown Heights – A Transit Hub For Brooklyn
As an urban policy nerd and livable 
streets booster, I can’t resist any temptation to dissect the impact of Crown Heights’ role as a transit hub for Brooklyn, even though we aren’t thought of as such.
Case in point, the recent numbers about the most ridden bus lines in the city are in, and two of the top five run right through Crown Heights. The B44, which runs on Nostrand, New York and Bedford Aves, and is already slated by the MTA and stimulus grants to become Brooklyn’s first Select Bus Service line, came in at number five on the list (Also of dubious honor the line was, given a “Schleppie” award in 2009 for being the least reliable bus in the city).
Number one on the ridership list went to the B46 which runs along Utica for the length of Crown Heights, but also runs all the way from the Williamsburg bridge to Kings Plaza, and connects huge sections of underserved parts of Brooklyn to the subways, particularly the A/C, and 3/4.
So many people get of off the B46 (and dollar vans) at the Utica Avenue 4 station that this corner is not only bumping with street vendors and life, but it was also the most dangerous intersection in Brooklyn between 1995 and 2005. Utica Ave is essentially a transit transfer point, this may be what causes those trains to start their rush hour runs nearly at capcity. The most crowded bus line in America intersects the most crowded train line right in our neighborhood.
As more people become aware of the transportation hub in the neighborhood, which includes direct access to the LIRR commuter rail, undoubtedly more people will gravitate here. Just the other day I Love Franklin Ave blog noted the increased ridership that the Franklin Ave subway line has experienced in the past year. And with the implementation of Select Bus Service on Nostrand, the convenience gains on the least reliable line will undoubtedly increase ridership on the B44. Within a few years it could catch up to the B46 in riders.
The economic impacts of good transit, and heavy transit use are obvious. Each subway stop on Eastern Parkway creates a pocket of commercial activity that serves as the center for the major shopping drags of our community. A good bus line extends the business district because it turns the area into a stopping point between a subway and a bus.
Since we are already a heavily transit using neighborhood, what will the role of transit be in CH over the coming years given the recent overall increases in transit ridership, the coming SBS line, and (wait for it) gentrification?
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GREAT article, nat!!
I read that NYTimes article the other day and
I was SO surprised to see just how many riders are on the Utica subway line. The only trains there are the 3 and the 4, but from what I could tell Utica is third only to Atlantic Station and Borough Hall as far as ridership on the Brooklyn subway lines. What makes that stop so special?
With the addition of BRT/SBS, Crown Heights will host all of the major public transportation options – subway, bus, rapid bus, and commuter rail. Is there any other neighborhood that can say that?
Of course, as you allude this will tend to increase gentrification (for better or worse), especially as people get over their fear of the neighborhood and start to realize what assets we have here.
But I also think it can serve as a big boon to the local cultural scene. As it stands, the local Afro-Caribbean cultural scene is under-developed, but with the right forces, coupled with being near the transit hub, this could really be great for the neighborhood.
On another note, being the Brooklynite that I am – I only wish that downtown Brooklyn could become more of an office hub so that transportation was not so Manhattan centric. Imagine the day that broker listings read “only 5 minutes to downtown Brooklyn.”
@Laurel: You are totally right, the 2 doesn’t run to Utica. I removed it from the piece.
Oh – I actually hadn’t even noticed that you had referenced the 2. I guess I was just curious about what makes Utica so popular? Is it because it is the last stop on the line? Or is there some major commercial destination there?
My issue with the future planning for transit in CH is that in the short run it is destined to make CH less transit friendly. Reducing Nostrand Avenue from two lanes of traffic to one moving lane and one dedicated bus lane is destined to hurt traffic on the DeKalb-Empire corridor and perhaps even further out to the junction. The current BRT plan does not include stops that allow for transfer points to either the 2/3/5 (just as the limited does not currently make those stops) at EP and President and will not make stops at many of the subway stations further out on the line. The last version of the plan I saw had the northbound B44 rerouted from New York to Rogers making for longer walks to transit and less transportation option to those living in Flatbush proper.
DOT’s current goal is to make NYC less drivable, thereby forcing people to switch to public transit and alternative modes of transportation. This bodes well for CH as it offers lots of alternatives and a fairly easy walkable landscape. However, its going to make living in these communities hell in the short run. One has only to look at Empire Blvd to see what our future is. A fairly low traffic but high speed street has turned into a low speed highly trafficed street complete with backups, honking horns and gridlock which rivals Manhattan at certain intersections.
There are still large numbers of Brooklynites that don’t commute into Manhattan but are completely Brooklyn/Queens or Brooklyn/Staten Island based. For those folks, or for anyone doing other intra-neighborhood commutes to underserved transit locations (CH to Bay Ridge, CH to Borough Park, CH to Canarsie, etc.) these upcoming years are going to be hell.
@LC Arnett – thanks for your comment. Got me really thinking about the potential impact of this BRT line.
Regarding your point about the lane changes hurting traffic, I saw one online presentation about the new BRT system and I thought it was a pretty compelling point in the presentation that they said that most people (60%) within a 1/4 of the line don’t have a car and most (62%) take public transit. So it seems like if anything, this system will improve transit for most people in the area.
Regarding the stops at the 2/3/5 I agree, it would be more convenient for many if it stopped at Eastern Parkway, but St. Johns is only 2 blocks away from the 3 at Eastern Parkway and 4 blocks away from the 2/5 at President. Also, the St. John’s stop is a transfer point for the B45, and per your theory about intraneighborhood commuting, maybe it makes more sense to have the connection to the bus line. I think they put all the limited stops at places where multiple bus lines intersect.
Regarding the NY Ave line – the presentation that I saw said that the B44 local service will continue, but I wasn’t clear if the NY Ave local service was moving or just the NY Ave limited service. Do you know if the local service is moving too? Presumably it is, but I’ll remain hopeful until I hear otherwise.
I’d personally be annoyed if NY loses the B44 but maybe it makes sense in the broader scheme. Did they say why they are moving the limited/SBS to Rogers? Is there a public comment period where we can get them to change that?
From what you’ve seen/heard does this service go directly to Manhattan? I would love that. If the commute times are comparable or I am not in a hurry – I much prefer to take the bus over the dirty, dark subway any day. But from the pics that I saw, it seemed that the line ends in Williamsburg.
Lastly – you allude to the problems in the short run … do you think it will pan out in the long run? If so, how?
Sorry for all the questions, but this stuff is fascinating to me. I’m curious what others think. I hope they publicize the next public meeting.
@LC Arnett – Motor vehicle traffic is generally pretty quick to adapt to new road conditions, some will choose alternate routes, the rest will just slow down, and slowing down is the important part. While I can’t find statistics on Nostrand in particular, the general rule of thumb is that wide, low traffic, one way streets encourage speeding which is a very deadly problem citywide. In 2009 Transportation Alternatives found that 39 percent of observed motorists were driving in faster than the 30 mph citywide speed limit. In the linked article TA notes that “while a pedestrian struck at 30 mph has a 60 percent chance of surviving a collision, the likelihood of survival drops to 30 percent when the vehicle is moving at 40 mph”. Basically, speeding is a really good way to endanger a pedestrian’s life. There is a current hellish condition on Nostrand, and it has to do with the pedestrian crash rates. On the stretch of Nostrand between Atlantic Ave and Empire Blvd, there were over 200 crashes involving pedestrians between 1995 and 2005, 3 of which were fatal. Nostrand Avenue is the second most dangerous street in Crown Heights (Eastern Parkway is the first).
There are indeed large number of Brooklynites that don’t commute to Manhattan, this is exactly why the B44 and the B46 are so well used; which is a point I may not have made clearly enough in the article. These buses connect neighborhoods within Brooklyn, so while I focused on those buses in their relationship to the train, I think that the real long term value of the Select Bus Service will be the increased convenience of travel within the borough.
The changes to traffic flow may well inconvenience drivers, but the convenience being lost is the ability to habitually break the law. Speeding down Nostrand is already illegal, its just not enforced to the level that it should be. The new configuration (as well as many of the DOT’s recent efforts around the city) will hopefully enforce the speed limit through better infrastructure. The current traffic levels can easily be absorbed by the new configuration. All drivers need to do is slow down, if someone experiences that as hell, I can’t say that it bothers me. Such thinking illustrates how deeply we assume that car owners have the primary right to the road, rather than use them as a privilege provided by the city.
By taking away a little bit of excess car capacity and dedicating it to mass transit, the ridership of the B44 should go up. This would mean that more people were making fewer car trips, even if they don’t get rid of the car.
@LaurelB – This is purely speculative, but I would imagine that the reason the stop will be at St. Johns and not at Eastern Parkway is because of car traffic and the need to not have buses pulling in and out of there because of the huge amount of turning traffic there. Also, according to the MTA there won’t be a President St stop, the next SBS stop after St. Johns is Empire. That page also suggests that the local route will remain the same. The SBS will start in Williamsburg and end in Sheepshead Bay, so its entirely trans-Brooklyn route.
@LaurelB – While 2 blocks or 4 blocks aren’t a long haul for able bodied adults, I’d submit its a long work for anyone traveling with small children, the elderly or the handicapped, or anyone who is carrying anything heavier than a pocketbook. The wild card as to whether it pans out in the long run is the impact on businesses on the street. One thing that is true about Nostrand is that the majority of the businesses do not receive deliveries from large trucks, but rely on smaller vans and personal cars to deliver goods and materials. Keep an eye out on the Avenue and you’ll notice that with the exception of the supermarkets and the liquor stores, very few businesses get deliveries by trucks that are larger than 24 ft. The lack of parking and loading/unloading zones on the street is going to have an immediate and direct impact on those businesses.
@Nat- Have you driven down Nostrand recently? There is NO speeding. Instead, traffic crawls along, primarily because during all but late night hours there are cars double parked on almost every block. Driving down Nostrand is like driving through an obstacle course defined by double parked cars. I can’t argue with the statistics that you site regarding crashes and fatalities other than to say that I’d like some context of what crash averages and fatalities are like city-wide before I’d agree that the Nostrand Avenue numbers of high. I drive up Nostrand on a regular basis, and I’d say from personal experience that there is no way to do above thirty miles an hour from Atlantic to Empire Blvd on any day after 8 am and before midnight. The rest of the time, traffic is slow, slow, slow.
@LC Arnett – Point taken. I have in fact not driven down Nostrand in quite a while, and you’re right, now that I’m thinking about it, double parking is an issue. However, I have often noticed that double parked delivery vehicles actually create speeding in bursts, because people speed up to make the light on the other side of the truck; though my anecdotes shouldn’t be confused with actual data.
Speaking of the actual data, the numbers that I use are taken from Crashstat which is map and database maintained by Transportation Alternatives. It is an aggregation of various municipal data sources. That should give you a deeper sense of the context.