Editor's note: A version of the piece appeared last week on Reorientations, a blog by the staff of People-Oriented Cities. Read the original here.
New York City is moving forward with central median-aligned bus lanes on Flatbush Avenue. It’s bold and it’s a big deal. In fact, last year, we made the technical case for center-running bus lanes on Flatbush. But since the city's release of its center-running designs in July, we have argued in favor of taking the extra time to fix some critical issues to ensure a functional project that results in real travel time savings for bus riders.
But road design issues, while absolutely critical to resolve, are just one piece of the puzzle: Since 2008, DOT has used the same incrementalist playbook and the results have been mostly tepid. The next mayor should embrace a bolder vision, make a more significant improvement and give everyone something to be excited about.
Here’s how to build true BRT on Flatbush Avenue:
Build BRT bus stations that work for riders
The main feature that distinguishes real BRT from the NYC DOT standard bus priority toolkit is the BRT station. A BRT station looks and feels like a great subway station — not a bus stop. It’s in the middle of the road, so for pedestrians to feel comfortable, in the dead of winter, in a rainstorm, or on a lonely night, the station needs protection on all sides.
The station platforms should be fully level with the bus floor. This allows passengers to step directly onto and off of the bus quickly without any delay. Passengers with wheelchairs or strollers will be able to roll directly on and off the bus without hassle. DOT’s current concept of "near-level boarding" doesn’t cut it.
As long as riders still have to pay for buses, the station will also need to be a prepaid boarding zone, ideally with turnstiles. This means passengers will tap their OMNY cards at validators at the station entrance, so anyone inside the station will already have paid — like on the subway. Then, passengers can board through any door, and nobody will get stuck waiting for the person in front of them to tap their OMNY. Turnstiles will reduce fare evasion without intrusive inspectors.
Harness station design to upgrade public space
The intersection of Flatbush Avenue, Fourth Avenue and Atlantic Avenue outside Barclays Center sits at the heart of Brooklyn, served by eight subway lines and the LIRR; yet, in the words of Brooklyn architect Severn Clay-Youman:
“The streets around Atlantic Terminal have long felt like an ignored non-space- adjacent to a steady stream of automotive traffic (mostly going elsewhere), constantly poised in the midst of a promised commercial renaissance which never seems to truly land. The community deserves the pay-off for the decades of development, a true urban center, a public space that matches the confluence of public transportation that meets underground.”
DOT faces an uphill battle selling their daring central bus lane concept to a sometimes-skeptical community. If the project is just paint and some concrete, people will focus on the traffic impacts and little else.
Designing and building jaw-dropping stations and dramatically improving the public space could mean the difference between a frosty public reception and real community excitement. This should be done by a world-class architect, not in-house by transportation planners.
We asked Mr. Clay-Youman to come up with some designs:
The architecture for Clay-Youman's stations combines the color palette of the NYCT buses with the iconography of the NYC subway stations, while drawing from the designs of some of the world’s most celebrated BRT stations.
By including public space features, the area around Atlantic Terminal shifts from an unappealing location we must all occasionally pass through to an iconic meeting spot in Downtown Brooklyn.
Consider bi-directional central median BRT stations
If the MTA would purchase buses with doors on both sides of the bus, something common to BRT systems worldwide, DOT would only need to build one BRT station at each location to serve both directions of traffic. This would be more convenient for passengers, as it facilitates transfers to routes going in different directions. It would also take up less road space, and cut construction, operations, and maintenance costs in half. In fact, DOT is open to this; it is the MTA that would need to make the change.
Complete a major cross-Brooklyn bikeway with a single connection
A single bike connection at 4th and Atlantic would complete the Ashland bikeway and connect it to the 4th Avenue bikeway, creating one continuous bikeway from DUMBO all the way to Bay Ridge. To do this would involve improving the northwest-bound bike connection from 4th Avenue, across Atlantic to Ashland. DOT could do this as part of this project.
Additionally, the fight with BAM over the southernmost missing link on Ashland (very well explained in this video) is all too familiar. This missing link goes right to the proposed BRT station. BAM might be more amenable if it were part of a dramatic improvement of public space, an obvious boon to them.
Extend the BRT station at Fourth Ave. through the intersection
As there is currently no east-west traffic going through the intersection of Flatbush and 4th Avenue and since Ashland/Hanson Place is already fully disconnected from Flatbush, the BRT station can be lengthened. This would allow the pedestrian refuge island to be extended through the intersection, and one lane of Ashland and Hanson Place could be given over to public space. See the image above.
Eliminate Left Turns
As we mentioned in our last piece, it is critical that the remaining mixed traffic left turns from Flatbush be eliminated. This would leave plenty of room for a fully dedicated busway all the way to Livingston and would significantly improve mixed traffic speeds on Flatbush.
In politics, perception is everything. If the traffic on Flatbush degrades because of the BRT system, a lot of people will be angry. If, alternatively, a few people are marginally inconvenienced by their loss of a left turn, this will have far fewer negative impacts.
It is worth a little extra time and money to get this right
Full BRT will cost more and may take longer to implement. But the extra cost is marginal compared to the millions being committed to just the planning and engineering of the Inter-Borough Express and Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway. If this project can create NYC’s first true BRT, while simultaneously dramatically improving the streetscape at the core of Brooklyn, it could be the flagship project of the next Mayor.
