B61: A Shorter Route, But Service Just as Sucky

The day has come. As the MTA promises, the ridiculously long route of the eternally late and poorly run Brooklyn bus line, B61, was split in two at the beginning of 2010. The B61 now runs from IKEA on Beard Street in Red Hook to downtown Brooklyn, near Fulton Mall. The newly christened B62 now takes up the slack from Fulton Mall all the way up to Long Island City.

Hurrah! Hosannah! Certainly residents of Red Hook and Columbia Street who desperately depend on B61 as their only mass transportation artery will now get much better service, right?

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Pull Cord Buses Debut on B61 Line

I read about New York City Transit installing old-style bell cords in new buses some five months ago, but I didn't see one until this past weekend, on a routine trip on my local B61 line. It was strung there along the sides of the bus like a long strand of yellow, holiday garland.

I liked it. It was possible to call for a stop anywhere you stood or sat. You didn't have to go searching and reaching for those buttons and magnetic strips. And my son thought it was infinitely more fun. My friend, though, thought they were stupid, and an invitation for vandalism. I don't know. Though cords looks pretty damn tough.

Apparently, there are more than 500 of these buses all over the City by now. Maybe the B61 only gets one.

B61 Begins New Phase in January

Brooklynites will have something to cheer about in the dim, chill days of January.

That's when the heinously long route of the eternally late B61 bus line will be officially split in two. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will "split the route of the B61 bus into one section from transit-starved Red Hook to Downtown and another section from Downtown to Greenpoint (and beyond into Queens)."

The name of the northerly half of the line will be rechristened the B62. Which is a good thing, because I won't have to get used to a new name in order to bitch about my bus line.

Huge B61 Bus News

Earth-shaking news regarding the infamous bus known as the B61!

Word has come through Craig Hammerman, through the Word on Columbia Street blog:

"After much consideration, NYC Transit has finally agreed to split the B61 into 2 routes -- one from Red Hook to Downtown Brooklyn, and one from Downtown Brooklyn into Long Island City, Queens (which would become a new B62 route). This move is intended to improve the reliability and timeliness of the B61 route, particularly as it serves our district.

The change would go into effect in January 2010, assuming it receives approval of the MTA Board which it is scheduled to come before later this month. We should be receiving our formal letter from NYC Transit within the next week."

Could it be that Brooklyn's worst bus line is about to enter a new era of improved service? Doubtful. But it's got to get better than it is now!

Where Are the B61s?

Ever wonder why a B61 bus never comes on schedule? Why there's a drought of buses for 20 minutes, and then three arrive in quick succession? I'll tell you why: They're all at Ikea!

Here's a picture taken at 8:15 AM, Monday, Aug. 18. You can't tell from the shot, but there's another, fourth bus just to the left. All four vehicles are B61s, and all are parked, their drivers chatting with one another on the sidewalk. I stood waiting for a nearby B77 for 10 minutes and not one bus moved.

This is 8:15 AM, remember! Rush hour! Hundreds of Red Hook and Cobble Hill residents are waiting at bus stops along Van Brunt, Columbia and Atlantic to get to work in downtown Brooklyn. And there guys are having a coffee klatch. I've been told by those in the know that the drivers sometimes bunch up not by accident, but on purpose, so they can socialize at the end of the line. This would seem to prove the rumor.

UPDATE: Don't like my complaint? Try this equally good one on Neighborhood Threat.

The Shameful Bus Called B61

I'm going to take a minute here to eviscerate the B61 city bus line. I know it's off-topic, but I don't care. This sorry-ass excuse for mass transportation has it coming.

I live on the B61's route, which is long and connects many neighborhoods, from Red Hook to Long Island City. This bus has a schedule, which can been seen in printed form at various bus stops through the city, as well as in handy pamphlets and on the MTA's website. Whether any of the B61 drivers have ever read it is doubtful. Whether or not they care that there is a schedule is not in question: they don't. The B61 comes when it comes. During the weekdays, that's supposed to be every 10 minutes—often enough for even the busiest lines. What you get in reality is one every 20 or 30 minutes and then—the B61 drivers' favorite trick—three frickin' buses in a row, following each other like duckling, the first filled to the brim, the second two utterly useless, holding a rider or two.

Every patron of the B61 has seen this phenomenon at least once a day and gritted their teeth in fury. It happens like clockwork. One person told me it's not the driver's fault—the route is too long, there's too much potential for delay as they travel through Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Dumbo and Downtown Brooklyn. To which I say: too fucking bad! It's your route! Learn it. Master it. Get it right. It's not rocket science to keep ten minutes between you and the bus in front of you. Brooklyn has traffic; figure out how to handle it. I have the chance to observe many bus lines in my daily life. Never once have I seen a B71, B63, B75 or B77 following by two empty examples of the same stupid bus. Only the B61.

And then there are the drivers. Stone-faced, sullen, indignant, unapologetic. They talk back to riders when they complain about the service. They never smile. I've seen them park the bus and get off to talk with friends without explanation when there was no cause for a break in the scheduled.

This morning I staked out my place early at a B61 stop, arriving at 8 AM to get to a 9:30 AM appointment in Manhattan. The 8:14 did not arrive. Then a completely full bus passed me by at 8:10. The 8:24 bus did not arrive. Another bus did not show up under 8:35. It was also full to bursting, but did stop. The driver continued to pull over at every stop even though there was no room in the bus. When he drove quickly over a pothole with a mighty "crash," someone in the huddled mass said, "I think you broke something in the bus." He replied, "I ain't broke nothing. There's too much weight on this bus. Why don't some of you get off?"

"Why don't some of you get off?" Well, driver, why don't you show up on time? Why don't all your friends show up on time, so each bus is evenly populated? Better yet, why don't you shut the hell up?

UPDATE (9/25/07): I read today, in AMNY, via Curbed, that the MTA plans to extend the schedules of the B61 and B77 to service IKEA. So a crowded bus will become more crowded. Nice work, MTA! Oh, well. Maybe something will change now that yuppies, and not just the working poor, experience what a sucky line the B61 is. Maybe, at the bequest of IKEA, it will become a tiffany line.