Given the number of times we have blogged about the new bus rapid transit service slated for Nostrand and Rogers Ave, should probably already know the background of this, but just in case you need to brush up, follow the jump:

Open House on Select Bus Service (SBS) on Nostrand Avenue and Rogers Avenue
Monday, November 15, 2010
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Brooklyn College Student Center
Campus Road and East 27th Street
Bedford Lounge, 2nd Floor
The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) and MTA New York City
Transit (NYCT) are working together to bring Select Bus Service (SBS) to
Nostrand Avenue/Rogers Avenue in 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?

Credit: Theodora Ravago/NYC Department of Transportation

Update 2/9/10: Here’s video that provides a demonstration of how BRT would operate on Nostrand.  Also, here’s a presentation about how the system works, including pictures of the new payment system.

Wow!!  So, we’ve blogged a couple of times about the bus rapid transit system coming to the Nostrand-Rogers corridor before.  But just yesterday NP reader, nat, alerted us to the following:

In short, “the Obama Administration’s 2011 budget includes $28 million for the Nostrand Avenue Select Bus Service project.”

http://www.streetsblog.org/2010/02/02/feds-green-light-funding-for-better-nostrand-avenue-bus-service/

Wow … all that for lil old Nostrand?

We would have expected most folks to be happy and even excited about  BRT.  But as the Hawthorne Street blog has discussed in the past, some merchants in the Flatbush section of Nostrand are not too keen on the idea, voicing a concern that the bus would eliminate parking on the Ave.  On this side of Nostrand, we don’t have the sense that patrons rely on street parking that much, so it might not be as much of a concern for merchants.

What say the town square on this news?  Bad for Nostrand/Crown Heights?  Good for Nostrand/Crown Heights?  Might any of you consider using BRT to commute to Manhattan?

Word is that there is a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) pilot project slated for Nostrand and Rogers for 2011.  What is BRT?  From what we understand, BRT is a system of higher speed, higher capacity buses that travel along bus routes dedicated exclusively to the buses. Traffic lights are synchronized to speed up travel.  Keep your fingers crossed, however, because apparently the fate of the project has been called into question in the past.  For now, it is still on the calendar.  There is more information at the Department of Transportation’s website. Picture from the Department of Transportation website.