B61 and B62 buses

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This article is about the former streetcar line that became part of
Brooklyn and Queens Transit. For the current underground subway line of the Independent Subway System, see IND Crosstown Line. For additional information on the current bus service, see List of bus routes in Brooklyn
.

b61, b62
Crosstown Line
Park Slope−Red Hook−Downtown Brooklyn−Long Island City
Jay Street–MetroTech station
  • B61: Fulton Street and Smith Street
  • B62: Boerum Place and Livingston Street
EndB61:
Park Slope/Windsor Terrace – 20th Street and Prospect Park West/Green-Wood Cemetery
B62:
Long Island City – Queens Plaza
Length9.7 miles (15.6 km) (Red Hook to Long Island City)[2]
Other routesCrosstown Line
Service
Operates24 hours[3][4]
Annual patronage1,825,065 (B61, 2022); 1,510,617 (B62, 2022)[5]
TransfersYes
TimetableB61
B62
← 
B60
  {{{system_nav}}}  B63 →

The Crosstown Line is a public transit line in

Jackie Gleason Depot in Sunset Park. The entire route was a single line, the B61, until January 3, 2010;[2] the B62 was previously a separate, parallel route between Downtown Brooklyn and Greenpoint,[6] now part of the B43 route. The streetcar line, B61 and the original B62 previously operated from the now-closed Crosstown Depot in Greenpoint.[7]

Route description

Streetcar line

The original Crosstown Line began at the Richards Street at the foot of Erie Basin, the portion of the

Brooklyn–Queens Expressway at this location), then north along Washington Avenue through the Brooklyn Navy Yard and north on Kent Avenue to Broadway Ferry. The route ran east a short distance along Broadway, then ran north along Driggs Avenue (southbound trolleys used Bedford Avenue) through northern Williamsburg, and finally north on Manhattan Avenue to Box Street near the foot of Newtown Creek in Greenpoint.[8] The streetcar line operated out of the Crosstown Depot at its northern terminus, which would later become a bus depot for the B61 and other routes.[7][8][9]

B61 bus route

The current B61 bus route begins at 20th Street and Prospect Park West at the north end of

Jay Street–MetroTech subway station at Smith Street and Livingston Street, in front of the headquarters of the New York City Transit Authority. Southbound buses reenter service via Boerum Place one block west.[3][10]

Prior to 2008, the B61 comprised the entire Crosstown surface route, running between

B77 route.[2][17][18]

Initially based out of the Crosstown Depot,

Grand Avenue Depot in Queens upon the depot's opening in January 2008.[19][20][21] It was moved back to the Jackie Gleason Depot following the creation of the current B62.[17]

B62 bus route

Jay St-MetroTech
MTA New York City Bus New Flyer Xcelsior XDE40 9503 on the B62

The B62 bus route operates between Schermerhorn Street and Boerum Place in front of the

Grand Avenue Depot in Maspeth, Queens
.

History

A B61 in Long Island City in 2007, prior to the creation of the current service plan

Streetcar service

The

Prospect Park.[24]

Bus service

B62 bus in Downtown Brooklyn

On January 28, 1951, the line was replaced with bus service, designated "B-61",[1][25] between Greenpoint and Red Hook (the later terminal labeled as "Erie Basin").[1][26] In February 1960, the Transit Authority rerouted the bus route between Clinton Hill and Downtown Brooklyn, from Myrtle Avenue onto Park Avenue, due to traffic congestion. The change was reversed on August 1 of that year after complaints from riders and local businesses.[27] By 1963, the route had been extended across the Pulaski Bridge into Queens,[28] terminating at Jackson Avenue and 49th Avenue in Hunters Point.[6][11] On September 8, 1963, the line was split in northern Williamsburg, traveling on Bedford Avenue northbound and Driggs Avenue southbound, after the streets were turned into one-way avenues.[29] In fall 1964, the northbound B61 was rerouted in Williamsburg from Kent Avenue to Bedford Avenue farther inland between the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Division Avenue, to improve passenger safety.[30]

The route was extended to Queens Plaza in 1994 as part of the

B77 were rerouted to serve the IKEA Red Hook terminal,[13][14][15][16] which opened on June 18, 2008.[16][32]

A newly delivered New Flyer XN40 bus on B61 service in 2017

For many years through the 2000s, the B61 had been considered an unreliable route, due to the route's length, infrequent and off-schedule service, and traffic congestion in Downtown Brooklyn.

B77 routes during the 2010 MTA budget crisis. The B61 was extended east of Red Hook into Park Slope, replacing the entire B77 route and the eastern/southern leg of the B75.[17][18][34] In November 2011, a report on B61 service was released by New York City Council member Brad Lander.[17] In April 2012, additional buses were added to the B61 route.[36] Later that year, MTA Bus Time was installed on B61 buses.[37]

Bus redesigns

In December 2019, the MTA released a draft redesign of the Queens bus network.[38][39] The redesign included a "high density" route called the QT1, which would have run from Astoria, Queens, to Downtown Brooklyn.[40] The redesign was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City in 2020,[41] and the original draft plan was dropped due to negative feedback.[42] A revised plan was released in March 2022.[43] As part of the new plan, the B62 bus would be extended northward in Queens along 21st Street, terminating at 27th Avenue/2nd Street in Astoria.[44]

On December 1, 2022, the MTA released a draft redesign of the Brooklyn bus network.[45][46] As part of the plan, the B61 would be truncated to 15th Street and Prospect Park West at its southern end, and service south of 15th Street would be provided by a new bus route, the B81. In addition, the northbound B61 would no longer directly serve the IKEA store in Red Hook; the southbound B61, as well as the new B27 and B81 routes, would continue to stop in front of the IKEA store.[47] The B62 was already planned to be extended to Astoria converted into a limited-stop route as part of the Queens redesign. Under the Brooklyn redesign, the B62 would use Flushing Avenue in the vicinity of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Within Williamsburg, northbound buses would use Bedford Avenue, while southbound buses would use Driggs and Lee Avenues; the route would no longer use Broadway or Division, Kent, or Wythe Avenues. North of Nassau and Driggs Avenues, the B62 would use McGuinness Boulevard instead of Manhattan Avenue.[48] On both routes, closely-spaced stops would be removed.[45][46]

See also

References

  1. ^
    Newspapers.com
    .
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "B61 Split Into Two Routes", mta.info
  3. ^ a b MTA Regional Bus Operations. "B61 bus schedule".
  4. ^ a b MTA Regional Bus Operations. "B62 bus schedule".
  5. ^ "Subway and bus ridership for 2022". mta.info. August 3, 2023. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c "1976 Brooklyn Bus Map". wardmaps.com. New York City Transit Authority. 1976. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  7. ^ a b c "Riders on New Buses Will Triple in July". New York World-Telegram. Fultonhistory.com. May 12, 1960. pp. B1–B2. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  8. ^ a b Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac; Brooklyn Railroads; Brooklyn City Railroad. 1895. pp. 246–247. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  9. Newspapers.com
    .
  10. ^ a b "Brooklyn Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  11. ^ a b "1975 Queens Bus Map". wardmaps.com. New York City Transit Authority. 1975. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  12. ^ "Brooklyn Bus Map: September 2005" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 12, 2006.
  13. ^ a b c "Bus Timetable Effective June 2008: B61" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 19, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  14. ^ a b Cohen, Ariella (September 29, 2007). "MTA extends itself for Ikea". Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  15. ^
    AM New York. Archived from the original
    on October 17, 2007. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  16. ^ a b c d e Busio, Gary; Tracy, Tom (July 9, 2008). "Bus it to IKEA - Shoppers urged to board for better service". Brooklyn Daily. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  17. ^ a b c d e f Green, Matt; Freedman-Schnapp, Michael; Wiley, Daniel (November 2011). "Next Bus Please: Improving the B61 Bus" (PDF). Office of Council Member Brad Lander, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, Council Member Sara M. Gonzalez. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
  18. ^ a b "2010 NYC Transit Service Reductions - Revised" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 19, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 18, 2010.
  19. ^ a b c "Brooklyn Community Board 6 Transportation Committee: November 15, 2007". Brooklyn Community Board 6. November 15, 2007. Archived from the original on July 20, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  20. ^ a b Goldman, Sam (December 27, 2007). "GRAND AVE. DEPOT SET TO OPEN 1/6: Board 5 Gets Details On MTA Project". Times Newsweekly. Archived from the original on September 16, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  21. ^ Chung, Jen (June 13, 2009). "Babies Born On R Train, B61 Bus—LIRR Baby Next Up?". Gothamist. Archived from the original on June 18, 2009. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  22. Brooklyn Daily Eagle
    , Laws of New York, September 13, 1866, page 4
  23. ^ Senate, New York (State) Legislature (January 1, 1913). Documents of the Senate of the State of New York. E. Croswell.
  24. Brooklyn Daily Eagle
    , Railroad Consolidation, September 24, 1868, page 2
  25. Newspapers.com
    .
  26. ^ "Hepl Wanter Male; Engravers: 3-D Pantograph". Brooklyn Eagle. Fultonhistory.com. January 10, 1954. p. 10. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  27. ^ Muir, Hugo O. (July 21, 1960). "Crosstown Bus Returns To Myrtle Ave. Aug. 1: Area Hails Renewal of B-61 Service". New York World-Telegram. Fultonhistory.com. p. B1. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  28. ^ "Cout St. Goes South: Now It's One Way All the Way". Brooklyn World-Telegram. Fultonhistory.com. April 1, 1963. p. B1. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  29. ^ "Barnes Switches 'Pointt Traffic". Greenpoint Weekly Star. Fultonhistory.com. September 6, 1963. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  30. ^ Murphy, Walter G. (October 24, 1964). "Bus B-61 Changing Its Route". Brooklyn World-Telegram. Fultonhistory.com. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
  31. ^ "B61 bus service now can take you to a lot more stops. In fact, it can even take you to a stop as far away as Queens Plaza". New York Daily News. May 9, 1994. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  32. Daily News
    . New York. Retrieved September 1, 2010.
  33. ^ a b Busio, Gary (July 24, 2009). "To splice, or not to splice, B61 bus". Brooklyn Daily. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  34. ^ a b c "Brooklyn Streetcar Feasibility Study" (PDF). URS Corporation, New York City Department of Transportation. August 2011.
  35. Joseph R. Lentol
    . August 5, 2009. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  36. Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn
    . January 30, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  37. ^ Graber, Matt; Price, Kimberly Gail (April 16, 2012). "Promised B61 improvements seem to be real this time" (PDF). Red Hook Star-Revue. p. 3. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  38. ^ Acevedo, Angélica (December 17, 2019). "MTA gives 'sneak peek' of transformative Queens bus network redesign plan". QNS.com. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  39. ^ "MTA Unveils Draft Proposal to Redesign Bus Network in Queens". Spectrum News NY1 | New York City. December 31, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  40. ^ "Draft Plan, Queens Bus Network Redesign". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. December 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  41. ^ "Queens bus network redesign remains on hold amid COVID-19 pandemic: MTA". QNS.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  42. ^ Duggan, Kevin (December 15, 2021). "MTA to release 'totally redone' Queens bus network redesign draft in early 2022". amNewYork. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  43. ^ Duggan, Kevin (March 29, 2022). "FIRST ON amNY: MTA reveals new Queens bus redesign draft plan". amNewYork. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  44. ^ "Draft Plan, Queens Bus Network Redesign". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  45. ^ a b Brachfeld, Ben (December 1, 2022). "Draft plan for new Brooklyn bus network aims to finally end decades of slow, unreliable service". amNewYork. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  46. ^ a b Spivack, Caroline (December 1, 2022). "Brooklyn bus riders could finally get faster service under MTA redesign". Crain's New York Business. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  47. ^ "Draft Plan: B61 Local". MTA. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  48. ^ "Draft Plan: B62 Limited". MTA. Retrieved December 5, 2022.

External links

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