Bringing Back the B71

It's no secret that Red Hook and its neighbors were some of the hardest hit areas by the MTA's 2010 budget cuts. While some efforts - new bus shelters and service augmentation for the B61, an extension of the B57 - have been made to remedy the service losses, some losses are still noticeable. One of those is the B71, which ran primarily along Union Street from Van Brunt Street to Crown Heights. Without it, there is no crosstown service between Atlantic Avenue and 9th Street. This leaves large swaths of Park Slope, Prospect Heights, and Crown Heights inaccessible from Carroll Gardens or Red Hook on public transit, despite their proximity.

The B71 was, by most measures, an underperformer. Its daily ridership stood at barely 1,000 daily weekday riders prior to cuts, making it one of the least utilized routes outside of Staten Island. 30 minute headways (slightly shorter during rush hour) and operations that ended before 10pm every night certainly didn't help make the route popular.  But the route did provide a vital connection between neighborhoods - one that has not been replaced since. With the MTA still considering what to do with its surplus, its worth throwing the B71's hat into the ring. The question is, what can we change to increase ridership on this corridor and make its return a worthwhile investment.

1. Extend the route. The old B71 ended with a loop on Van Brunt Street on the waterfront. It could instead be extended along Columbia and Van Brunt streets, following the B61's route to the IKEA terminal. This would provide additional connections from Red Hook to the subway, add additional destinations, such as Fairway and IKEA, for riders in Park Slope or Crown Heights. It would also be a boon to the commercial district along Van Brunt Street, providing new customers with better access. These areas have grown since the route was cut in 2010, and it is possible that an extension would serve as a strong boost to ridership.

2. Reconsider the timetable. The B71 provides a vital link to subway stations, but it is mostly a neighborhood connector, rather than a commuter route. A revisited B71 timetable should recognize this role, particularly with more appropriate hours. An route through food and drink strips in North Park Slope, Smith Street, and Red Hook demands hours that work for restaurant goers and bar patrons. While a 24 hour bus would be excessive, late hours on Friday and Saturday nights could serve to boost overall use of the line.

3. Bus Time. This will ultimately be rolled out on all MTA routes, but it's worth noting that being able to track a bus with long headways makes the route considerably more useful than having to guess. In a perfect world the MTA would be able to run buses on a more frequent schedule but absent that, using technology to cut down on the interminable wait for the next bus would go a long way to making the route more useful to everyone who uses it.