Hate the bus lane on Nostrand? Get ready for SBS Utica. The B46

Will they do away with all parking and stopping on Utica? The street has exactly 4 lanes, including the parking ones. That will certainly be wonderful for local businesses! Will they bump out the sidewalks as they've done on Nostrand and Rogers? That will make things even better.

morralkan,

There's key difference with Nostrand: it's ONE-WAY. Utica is a two way street and there is no nearby, continuous, parallel street to Utica. I'm virtually sure that if you were to ask the shop owners on Nostrand for their honest opinion, they would uniformly hate these new lanes. Commercial loading hours are any time during the day. Do you expect that they have so much pull that small businesses can dictate to their suppliers when they can accept deliveries? A lot of the stores get a lot of their business from motorists making brief stops. When they run the risk of getting ticketed because there's no place to park, the motorists look elsewhere to shop. If he city and the DOT want to speed things up on Utica, they might consider first rebuilding the streets so that they are actually smooth. The southern section of Utica is like a pothole-filled roller coaster in many spots.You think that does not slow traffic?

This project is interesting; bring it!

 A lot of the stores get a lot of their business from motorists making brief stops. When they run the risk of getting ticketed because there's no place to park, the motorists look elsewhere to shop. It doesn't seem to affect the businesses on Flatbush Avenue, and there are limited places to park (legally) there. I added the term legally because double-parking and people who sit in their vehicle while someone runs in really quickly is a constant problem on Flatbush especially between Empire Boulevard and the Junction. I don't think enough of those motorists are getting ticketed because they are not being deterred from doing it. 

This "reconfiguring" is a big waste of money. We need fewer of these grand designs and more competent attention to the condition of  our city's roads. The Dollar vans are essential to the residents of East Flatbush and other southern neighborhoods, getting people back home far more quickly than even express buses can. And when all is said and done, the SBS buses will zip along, sort of, the DOT and the MTA will trumpet all sorts of glorious statistics, and the local buses will lumber along and anyone not living near or going to an SBS stop will still be taking a slow boat to China.

The slowness of the buses probably contribute to the popularity of the dollar vans. If the buses (local and Limited) were actually to run on time, maybe there wouldn't be a need or a demand for the dollar vans. 

I have an unlimited Metrocard. I'm inclined to shell out the additional cash to use a dollar van when I've already made the investment in an unlimited Metrocard....unless the bus is really late and I'm really desperate. Therefore, I'd rather see the buses operate faster and more efficiently. 

I've utilized the B44 SBS. It seems to be what the Limited should have been but failed to be in terms of operating efficiently. Expanding SBS service is a good idea. I admit to have a slight bias because I live off what would be a stop on a Limited or SBS run. I do acknowledge that you have a point that service among the local buses seem to be really slow. 

Moralkan, I'm with you and said the same thing about the B44 SBS when it was announced. Now that it is underway, I've seen 1) Great SBS service with multiple buses running on schedules similar to the trains (every 3-5 minutes during rush hour 15-20 minutes off hours) 2) horrible local bus service with locals never running more than every 7-10 minutes but routinely running 20-30 minutes apart; 3) People being pulled off the SBS, handcuffed and arrested for not having a receipt; 4) traffic delays by the inevitable truck deliveries that occur during rush hours 5) traffic delays on blocks with grocery stores as people illegally park in front of the store and cabs wait to take shoppers home and 6) road repairs necessary to speed up local bus service not completed before SBS was implemented.

I took the SBS for the first time from Rogers Ave and St Johns up to the Williamsburg bus depot. Granted, it was a Saturday around 4pm so we were not dealing with weekday rush hour traffic. But the ride was FAST. It was kind of like riding in a monorail. Getting home was similarly easy and fast.I am a big fan of the SBS service.

We do need to step up the enforcement efforts against double parking, which particularly delays the local buses. The cops seem to be focusing their enforcement efforts on fare evaders, demonstrated in the "line of shame" of evaders caught and ticketed in front of the Lula Bagel every time I walk past.

I am very cynical about efforts to improve local bus performance, though. Unless the MTA really increases the numbers of the local buses by like 30% or something, I don't really think they are ever going to be that efficient and punctual. The service that the local buses provide is fundamentally different from the SBS buses. The SBS is for moving commuters--students and working people--between transit hubs and major employment and shopping hubs. it is supposed to be like a subway. The local buses are for movement within neighborhoods or for people who prioritize the need the bus to get as close as possible to the destination. I think both systems should exist and there is room for both. I don't think that either bus system exists to punish the users of the other -- they are two totally different services for two totally different groups of constituents.

It's that last part of your last sentence, homeowner, that is very significant. ["waiting for the slow B44 PACKED with passengers" emphasis added] My experience is that the SBS buses run frequently and often have far more capacity than is needed while the local buses are designed to be grossly UNDER capacity. After all, the MTA wants to demonstrate how wonderful their SBS service is while they have next to no interest in the insignificant schmucks riding the local. (most often older people with walkers, canes, etc)

Of course not, but those organizations are pushing hard for these SBS routes. Unfortunately, they are far less concerned with maintaining streets in good condition. Even if one bikes, riding over streets full of potholes and other impediments is not good for one's bike nor for one's butt. S-K often ad her DOT paint bike lanes over the crappiest of street surfaces and then declared "mission accomplished!"

So, for example, every SBS stop has a nice cover so you can at least attempt to shield yourself from the rain. 

Not at the NB B44 SBS stop at the Junction. 

As I said, Dawndew, the DOT does not give a damn about the insignificant schmucks who have to ride the local buses. The elderly and mobility-impaired, especially, are unlikely to hoof it over to an SBS stop for the fancy waiting areas. 

Young single, healthy people who despise older people with families eventually become them.

The elderly represent a disproportionate number of the people killed by car drivers. Protection of the elderly is a major motivation of the people who support complete streets.

Whatever ulterior motives you and morralkan may ascribe to JSK, DeBlasio, etc., what they are advocating is supported by a large number of people (such as myself) that have no interest in anything but reducing the death and destruction caused by car drivers.