To: Carmen Bianco, NYC Transit President

Brooklyn Needs B1 Limited Bus Service!

ASSEMBLYMAN COLTON & TWU LOCAL 100 CALL ON MTA TO IMPLEMENT B1 LIMITED BUS SERVICE TO ALLEVIATE OVERCROWDING, BUS LATENESS, & INFREQUENT SERVICE ON BUS LINE

Dear MTA New York City Transit President Carmen Bianco,

We, the undersigned residents of Southern Brooklyn, are writing to urge the MTA to improve service on the B1 bus line in order to relieve the problems of chronic bus lateness, infrequent service, and passenger overcrowding. Specifically, we are asking the MTA to implement weekday Limited Service on the B1 between Kingsborough Community College and Bay Ridge.

For a few years now, we have been experiencing excessive crowding and long wait times on the B1 bus line. We often have to wait for long periods of time at bus stops for a B1 bus to arrive, sometimes spending twenty to thirty minutes waiting. In addition, after waiting for a long time at a bus-stop, more than one B1 bus arrives at once. Furthermore, the B1 bus is always crowded regardless of the time of day, but most especially during the morning and evening rush hours.

The B1 bus is an important line that services thousands of residents in many southern Brooklyn neighborhoods each day. This bus line runs from Manhattan Beach, through Sheepshead Bay, Gravesend, Bensonhurst and Dyker Heights, to Bay Ridge. The B1 services the busy, commercial streets of Avenue X and 86th Street in these neighborhoods.

Improving service on the B1 bus line would benefit many residents of southern Brooklyn. Many straphangers in southern Brooklyn depend on the B1 to travel between other neighborhoods, including to school and work. In addition, riders living in the southern Brooklyn neighborhoods of Gravesend, Bensonhurst, and Dyker Heights currently have some of the longest travel times to Manhattan out of all New York City residents. Improving service on the B1 bus line would help shorten these lengthy rides to Manhattan, allowing straphangers to have an easier commute. Furthermore, the stress and hassles of long travel times would be lowered, making traveling not only quicker, but less troublesome and hectic. All these benefits would improve the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of residents of our local neighborhoods in Bensonhurst, Gravesend, Dyker Heights and beyond.

For these reasons, I am urging you to improve service on the B1 bus line in southern Brooklyn by implementing weekday B1 Limited Service. Limited service on the B1 will help reduce travel times, alleviate excessive overcrowding, and improve connectivity to other subway and bus lines. Improving service on the B1 bus line would greatly improve the quality of life for the people of our communities.

Why is this important?

Particularly, record high enrollment at Kingsborough Community College has strained the overall availability of service on the local B1 bus route. During the 2011-2012 school year, enrollment at the college exceeded 20,000 students during the spring/summer semester. Although there is a clear need for additional service on the bus line, the number of regular and interline runs on the B1 decreased from 696 total “school open” trips (2014 Winter Pick) to 523 total trips (2015 Winter Pick). With the large number of students at Kingsborough, , the buses often become full with passengers at the Kingsborough bus stop in Manhattan Beach, creating overcrowding, irregular service, and delays on the entire bus line.