By: Victoria Keraj
The New York Department of Transportation (DOT) announced the start of the Flatbush Bus Priority Project on Sept. 25. The goal of the project is to increase the speed and reliability of the B41, which follows Flatbush Ave and services many Brooklyn College (BC) and local high school students.
Center-bus-only lanes will be added to decrease traffic along the Flatbush corridor, according to the Flatbush Bus project presentation.
The center running lanes will first be added between Livingston and State Street. Work on the route will continue along the bus’s route to Grand Army Plaza and will be completed in late fall 2026.
The bus lanes are expected to speed up the B41 and reduce traffic along Flatbush Avenue. The project presentation reports increases in traffic speeds for past projects where center bus lanes were implemented. The presentation cites a 49% decrease in vehicle volume along Northern Blvd, Queens, after adding center-running bus lanes.
Currently, according to the DOT’s project announcement, “bus riders across all of Flatbush Avenue currently experience bus speeds slower than four miles per hour at rush hours—about the same speed as a pedestrian walking the corridor.”
The center lane bus design also includes adding concrete boarding islands for increased safety of riders awaiting the bus.
According to the DOT, “Flatbush Avenue is a Vision Zero Priority Corridor, meaning it is one of the most dangerous streets in Brooklyn, with 140 people killed or severely injured within the past five years.” The announcement for the project subsequently cites the MTA’s data on ridership, which puts the B41 as the 10th busiest bus route in New York City and the 5th busiest in Brooklyn.
To decrease congestion, the proposal includes potential reroutes for the B41 as well as removing several stops by consolidating them onto the new boarding islands. The presentation specifies a 20% speed improvement and 2 minutes saved for each passenger.
The B41 redesign is the latest in a series of bus priority projects, which are part of the Brooklyn Bus Network Redesign project. The project’s draft plan, among Flatbush, lists other Brooklyn bus priority corridors. This includes plans for improving the B82 select bus service route along the South Brooklyn corridor.
In Queens, the entirety of the MTA’s plans for rerouting and bus priority projects concluded over the summer as part of the Queens Bus network redesign. However, feedback on the changes was not entirely positive, as reported. Charlton D’Souza, president of the rider advocacy group Passengers United, told CBS how new service gaps were affecting residents. “This is happening all throughout Queens. But when it happens in Far Rockaway, it takes on special meaning because people miss train connections, or they could miss the railroad connection or the ferry connection. So, that’s infuriating riders,” D’Souza told CBS.
“By implementing center-running bus lanes on Flatbush Avenue, DOT is […] also laying the groundwork for the implementation of a true bus rapid transit system throughout Brooklyn,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. “I commend DOT and Commissioner Rodriguez for investing in one of our most vital transit corridors, and I look forward to continued progress towards a bus rapid transit system that reaches every corner of our borough.”
For regular updates from the DOT, please refer to their office website to view press releases.