By Joseph Morales

On Bedford Ave in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, bus lanes for the B44-SBS run from 7AM-10AM weekays only despite the forecast of heavy traffic daily on this route from almost all day, 7 days a week from 8AM-10PM done by Google Maps. This leads to delays and bus bandwagons with buses being stuck in traffic due to lack of bus priority. In addition, this route is the 5th busiest in the city, with 6,689,127 trips in 2020 according to MTA figures, which can result in more crowding and lost time even in areas further south in Brooklyn that this bus route operates in(Flatbush, Sheepshead Bay, etc). On top of that, this bus route frequently has cars parked in its bus lanes both legally when the lane is not active and illegally which prevent the B44-SBS as well as other bus routes from utilizing them, and thus having to muster space in two lanes of car traffic on Nostrand or Bedford Av in the traffic the routes were designed to avoid.

On a Sunday in Williamsburg on Nostrand Ave a block away from Bedford must file into both lanes in order to keep traffic moving. As it is a Sunday, bus lane regulations are not active here.

The segment of Bedford Av in question runs between the Bedford Ave/Fulton St stop and the Williamsburg Bridge Bus Terminal, there is a lot of congestion in an area that is a hub for both interborough travel and travel throughout Brooklyn with a connection to 10 buses and 3 different subway lines to areas of Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan. For motorists, they can frequently travel through this area for access to the Williamsburg Bridge, Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, Flushing Av, Nostrand Ave, Union Ave, and other major roadways. In addition, according to the South Williamsburg Area Wide Multimodal Congestion Study done in 2016, 28 percent of South Williamsburg residents own vehicles, and with the abundance of apartments and small businesses such as stores, pharmacies, and bakeries plus the lack of public parking spaces there is simply nowhere for these vehicles to go. On-Street parking occupancy during AM and PM peak hours are 92 and 80 percent occupied respectively according to a report done before the B44-SBS Bus lanes were implemented by NYCDOT. There are only 4 parking lots within a 3-mile radius of the bus route and with the number of car owners in the area, that’s a major aggravation to those who need convenient access to their vehicles. Those garages price between $8-15 dollars per hour, however parking for 24 hours usually costs between $18-26 for 24 hours, due to the large prices this gives drivers the incentive to park in bus lanes. Fines for illegally parking in bus lanes cost between $50 for a first offense, $100 for the second offense, $150 for a third offense, $200 for a fourth offense, and $250 for each subsequent offense throughout a 12 month period and when large amounts of drivers commit a traffic violation en masse such as double parking or parking in a bus lane it tends to go unenforced. The enforcement mechanism ABLE(Automated Bus Lane Enforcement) where buses are equipped with cameras to identify bus lane violators by taking a picture of the license plate is not enabled on this route.

When we drove into Bedford Av on Sunday, September 6, 2021, the day before Labor Day, we took 11 minutes and 38 seconds to find a parking spot to enter the Coffee Break Cafe on Bedford Ave and Myrtle Ave. This is not a practical time for someone getting a coffee on the way to work or making another quick stop anywhere in this area. This experiment was also conducted when the bus lane was inactive and being used entirely for vehicle parking. We spoke to three motorists who all gave an opinion on the driving conditions in the area. ‘’It’s Impossible’’, said one driver when asked how hard it was to park. We also talked to a driver who said ‘’Very, Very Challenging, Very Hard’’.  Drivers routinely used the space that is used for bus lanes during the 7AM-10AM morning rush to park, so one can imagine what this space looks like during morning and afternoon peak hours. In addition to the parking fiasco, we also encountered traffic patterns on Nostrand Ave that required cars to use bus lanes to avoid traffic jams. We also noticed that vehicles on Nostrand Av only had two lanes available to them, which significantly hemorrhages traffic in an area that is a massive motor vehicle hub. 

Traffic On Nostrand Av on Sunday, September 5, 2021

Parking on Bedford Av in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn

on September 4, 2021

I also asked bus riders on the B44-SBS about how their commutes are affected by the traffic congestion and one said ‘’ It’s always delayed because of what’s back there’’. One also said,’’ It’s always backed up. Just a lot of traffic’’.  When compared to other hubs in New York that serve cars and buses, no hub serves nearly as many buses, trains, and automobiles at the same time with almost no one size fits all solution compatible with easing congestion and speeding up buses along the corridor. Most hubs in NYC, such as Fordham Center in the Bronx and Jamaica Bus Terminal in Queens primarily serve transit riders. Though there is congestion from the busy Fordham Rd and Archer Av respectively, there are not nearly the same connections for vehicles to interborough highways that cause the same level of congestion as in South Williamsburg. As for motor vehicle hubs such as the Bruckner Interchange in the Bronx and the BQE/LIE interchange in the nearby Maspeth section of the Queens, vehicles are congested trying to access some of the busiest highways in the New York Metropolitan Area but there are not as many buses and subway connections in which vehicles share the road with commuters. The only hub that functions in an even similar capacity to Williamsburg is Downtown Flushing in Queens. Even though Downtown Flushing gets congested with vehicular there are multiple parking garages making it easier to park at a reasonable distance to activities in the neighborhood, and the Flushing Busway makes it so that most buses that utilize the two busiest streets, Main St and Kissena Blvd can traverse the area with ease.

This makes conquering the issue of congestion and lack of bus priority in Williamsburg a unique challenge, as a sizable group of residents drives and need access to their vehicles while bus riders are being delayed by congestion and lack of bus priority on streets.

There was a 177-page area-wide multimodal traffic congestion study done by the NYCDOT in 2016 studying congestion in the South Williamsburg area, the study reiterates a lot of the issues that exist along with a plethora of more details that contribute to the problem. According to the study (which parameters included the entire South Williamsburg area rather than just our segments of Bedford and Nostrand Ave), there are schools in the area with over 33,000 students enrolled. Most of the schools serve grades K-5(ages 5-11) and this age group is more likely to be driven to school than middle and high school students. There is also the minor issue of illegal school bus parking between Bedford and Lee Avenues though it is not really a driver of congestion. Even though the start of the school year generally creates more vehicle congestion and mass transit crowding, the maount of school and students in South Williamsburg is unlike most areas of the city. A major job center, Woodhull Hospital is also less than a half-mile away. Trucking and manufacturing is also a major contributor to the issue of congestion.  Kent Avenue, Bedford Avenue, Union Avenue, Broadway, Flushing Avenue, Williamsburg St, and Lee Avenue are all major truck routes. Flushing Avenue between Throop and Harrison Avenues also has a lot of manufacturing businesses and warehouses. The study indicated that truck traffic made up between 5 and 6.5 percent of total traffic during peak periods. Truck parking and deliveries are essential to the success of businesses in the area, however, the lack of space as discussed in the article makes this industry harder to operate and it costs them more time and money to operate here as a result. To add insult to injury, the population density is twice that of Brooklyn at 65,509 sq mi and the median household size is higher than the city average. This has led to a lot of families owning minivans which are larger harder to park in an already limited space.

With all these drivers to congestion and a huge battle over space in South Williamsburg what should be done to ease the congestion and give bus lanes more priority? Bus commuters will argue that the bus lane should be expanded to a 7AM-7PM or 7AM-10AM/4PM-7PM  schedule like most bus lanes in the city, though this will make driving as well near impossible in the area. Drivers will of course argue that a more robust bus lane schedule will create more congestion and be a major source of frustration. Some might just use the bus lanes anyway. Someone might try to play peacemaker and argue for an additional lane for traffic to alleviate congestion on the narrow two-way street. However, the concept of induced demand will reduce traffic at first, but then more people would decide to drive due to the changes, and congestion will go back to the same, if not greater levels. The study done in 2016 did introduce geometric changes at many intersections including some major ones in the area, but nothing of a colossal effect. The problem might only get worse with the booming rush of luxury apartments and businesses entering Williamsburg that do not include more space for the new motorists that will inevitably come but only add more vehicles and congestion to the equation such as One River Street and the Brooklyn Navy Yard expansion.

As is, it is extremely difficult to visit the many unique businesses and opportunities and Williamsburg due to this tense battle over space between cars and buses here, and some degree of response to this congestion fiasco is essential in order to sustain Williamsburg’s massive growth into one of the most trending neighborhoods in NYC and also one of its largest transportation hubs.