Proposals C & D

Ø The B68 would be replaced by a southerly extension of the B67 and would terminate at Kings Highway, returning direct bus access to Downtown Brooklyn for the first time in over sixty years.

Ø The B67 on McDonald Ave would be replaced by an extension of the B69.

Ø The B67 would be cut back from High St to Tillary St in Downtown Brooklyn.

Ø A new route, B10 would start at Coney Island and operate via Coney Island Ave until 18^th Avenue (Ditmas Avenue), then primarily beside the existing B11 terminating at Maimonides Hospital where most of the people get off the B11.

Ø On Saturdays when B11 usage is light, the B10 would terminate at 18th Avenue (Ditmas Avenue) instead of Maimonides Hospital to minimize operating costs.

Ø On summer weekends the B67 would operate to Coney Island, thereby increasing beach service. It would also operate to Coney Island during late night hours.

Ø Greatly increases service along the most heavily used portion of the route between Ditmas Avenue and Kings Highway and reduces service along the extremities of the route.

Ø Also, it provides a direct connection from Southern Midwood / Kings Hway area (an area with a big influx of Sephardic Jews) to the heart of Borough Park. (Currently, there are illegal jitneys serving this demand.)

Ø Also, it greatly increases service along the main portion of 49 / 50 Streets served by the B11 while reducing service on the western portion of the route which is lightly utilized.

Ø The resulting reduced service on the Ave J portion of the B11 would be mitigated by having all the B6s make all stops and eliminating limited stop service.

Ø Some people would be inconvenienced but many more would benefit. And you could still take the B or Q train for through trips if you don't want to change.

Ø Although splitting the route into two routes would inconvenience those customers who would have to transfer to continue their trip, the number of customers inconvenienced would be minimal and represents a small percentage of current B68 customers because the proposal provides a common overlapping route portion between Foster Avenue and Kings Highway, the most heavily used portion of the route.

· The only customers requiring an extra bus are those who begin or end their trip south of Kings Highway and get on or off north of Foster Avenue. In most cases, these customers are already using the Brighton Line rather than the B68 because it is quicker and therefore would be unaffected; they would still have that option open to them. Also, the numbers of customers inconvenienced by being required to take an extra bus are offset by the numbers of customers who would require one fewer bus, e.g. B68 customers currently transferring to the B11 going to Borough Park.

Ø In all likelihood, the number of customers benefiting from this proposal would far outweigh the numbers of customers being inconvenienced because most of the Coney Island Avenue Corridor would now have direct bus access for the first time in about 70 years to Park Slope and Downtown Brooklyn, for those unable to use the subway or find it more convenient to use the bus. Presently two buses are required to make this trip utilizing the B75.

· The B67, a shorter and more direct route to Downtown Brooklyn and serving a greater portion of it, presently is not available to the Coney Island Avenue Corridor with the exception of a small number of customers near McDonald Avenue north of Cortelyou Road.

· There also would be direct service from the entire Coney Island Avenue corridor to the entire 7^th Avenue shopping area (not just the vicinity around 9^th Street) in Park Slope, a desirable destination due to its many shopping boutiques and restaurants. This trip presently requires three buses and a double fare (for those without a monthly pass). An extended B67 would encourage new trips and provide additional revenue.

Would the B67 become too long?

Ø The current B67 is not an overly long route, relatively speaking. It's running time ranges from 27 to 51 minutes. The proposed B67 would have a running time between 39 and 75 minutes depending upon time of day, less than the existing running time of the B47 which ranges from 46 to 76 minutes depending on the time of the day. That route was created several years ago when the B40 and B78 were combined. (All running times quoted are for the weekday school open schedule.)

Traffic Congestion Along 49th and 50th Streets

Ø 49^th and 50^th Streets are plagued with traffic congestion which causes some reliability problems on the existing B11. However, that would not be a sufficient reason not to institute a new service on these streets.

Ø The congestion that would exist on these streets would be no greater than the current congestion. In fact, reliability would be somewhat improved if the proposal were implemented because bus delays are not caused solely by traffic congestion but also by passenger congestion. When a bus is delayed by traffic, additional crowds build at the bus stops further delaying the buses. By providing additional service along the most heavily traveled sectors, the buses would be less prone to crowding and reliability would be improved.

Duplicative Service or More Efficient Service?

Ø Although MTA New York City Transit may consider this proposal as providing unnecessary duplicative service along Coney Island Avenue and 49^th / 50^th Streets and more expensive than current operation, the reality is that the portions of these streets which would receive additional service are the portions that are most heavily utilized. Therefore, more seats would be available and customers would be better served.

Ø Operating this service would not be more expensive, because the route portions generally receiving less service would be the southern end of the current B68 and western extremity of the current B11 which are less heavily utilized.

· For example, most B11 passengers traveling westbound get off the bus by 9^th Avenue with only a few passengers remaining on board until 1^st Avenue. It is inefficient to provide the same levels of service on an entire route when the center portion of the route carries ten times the number of customers as the western end as is currently the case. Providing less service west of 9^th Avenue is more efficient and offsets the additional operating cost of providing additional buses where they are most needed.

· Several years ago NYCT similarly split the M10 along 8^th Avenue and Central Park West in Manhattan into two overlapping routes, the M10 and the M20 creating an overlapping portion between Penn Station and West 66^th Street. This service change was not considered duplicative and more expensive to operate. Customers riding between 86^th Street and 14^th Street, for example who previously required one bus and were now required to transfer as a result of the route splitting, were not considered by NYCT to be inconvenienced.