We've been watching the progress as bus bulbs are installed and dedicated lanes are painted, and now the MTA has announced a start date for Select Bus Service on Nostrand and Rogers Avenues: November 17.
SBS service, which replaces the limited-stop B44 route and shifts a portion of its route west to Rogers Avenue, will include off-board fare payment and 12 bus bulbs to speed boarding and provide more space at bus stops. It includes dedicated, camera-enforced bus lanes on most of its route between Flushing and Flatbush Avenues. The project, which received a $28 million federal grant, extends from the Williamsburg Bridge to Sheepshead Bay.
The MTA says that road work performed by NYC DOT in preparation for SBS included the removal of rail installed for the BMT's Nostrand Avenue Trolley, which operated from 1871 to 1951. The trolley connected over the Williamsburg Bridge to Delancey Street; SBS will instead terminate at the Brooklyn side of the Williamsburg Bridge.
With SBS operating on Webster Avenue in the Bronx and an opening date on the calendar for B44 SBS, attention shifts to other planned SBS routes. A proposal for 125th Street was shelved over opposition from local elected officials and community boards, but the MTA has released a map of areas that could see the service in coming years.
