B6 (New York City bus)
The B6 constitutes a bus route between Bath Beach and East New York in Brooklyn, New York City. Originally operated by Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit, the route is operated by the MTA Regional Bus Operations under the New York City Transit Authority brand.
b6 b6 | |||
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Bay Parkway Line Glenwood Road/Cozine Avenue | |||
![]() B6 turning onto Flatlands Avenue in Canarsie | |||
Overview | |||
System | MTA Regional Bus Operations | ||
Operator | New York City Transit Authority | ||
Garage | Ulmer Park Depot | ||
Vehicle | New Flyer Xcelsior XD40 | ||
Began service | August 24, 1931 September 11, 2000 (B6 Limited) | ||
Route | |||
Locale | Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | ||
Communities served | Bath Beach, Bensonhurst, Mapleton, Midwood, Flatbush, Flatlands, Canarsie, East New York | ||
Start | Bath Beach - Cropsey Avenue and Bay 37th Street (full route) Midwood - Avenue J and Coney Island Avenue (select weekday local trips) | ||
Via | Bay Parkway, Avenue J, Avenue H, Flatlands Avenue, Cozine Avenue | ||
End | East New York - New Lots Avenue station (full route) Canarsie - Canarsie–Rockaway Parkway station (daytime local terminus) | ||
Length | 10.5 miles (16.9 km) | ||
Other routes | B82 Bay Parkway/Kings Highway/Flatlands Avenue | ||
Service | |||
Operates | All times | ||
Annual patronage | 6,390,919 (2022)[1] | ||
Transfers | Yes | ||
Timetable | B6 | ||
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As a result of connecting and travelling through dense neighborhoods, the B6 has consistently ranked as one of the busiest bus routes in the city, being the busiest bus route in Brooklyn, and ranked fourth overall citywide, with over 6.3 million people riding the route in 2022.
Route description
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The eastbound B6 starts at Cropsey Avenue and Bay 37th Street. It continues north to Bay Parkway and runs north on Bay Parkway until Avenue J, continuing on it until turning north on Bedford Avenue, passing through Brooklyn College. After turning east onto Glenwood Road, it runs past Flatbush Junction before dogleg turning onto Avenue H via Albany Avenue, it runs onto Avenue H before once again dogleg turning onto Flatlands Avenue via Ralph Avenue, later running on Flatlands Avenue before transitioning back to Glenwood Road, running on East 96th Street eastbound and passing through Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway. It continues east on Glenwood Road, which becomes Cozine Avenue until running north on Ashford Street. Northbound buses dogleg turn onto Cleveland Street via Hegeman Avenue before shifting on Livonia Avenue and terminating at Ashford Street, by the New Lots Avenue station.
The westbound B6 starts at New Lots Avenue, turning onto Warwick Street and dogleg turning onto Ashford Street via New Lots Avenue. It continues south and shares routing with the eastbound routing until Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway, where it stops inside of the station's bus loop. It then runs south on Rockaway Parkway before turning west onto Flatlands Avenue, continuing and sharing routing with the eastbound routing once again, until Cropsey Avenue, where it continues south before turning west on Shore Parkway to serve Caesar's Bay Shopping Center and later running north on 26th Avenue. It later turns west on Cropsey Avenue until terminating at Bay 37th Street.
On weekdays and Saturdays, the B6 employs limited-stop service, making limited stops between Rockaway Parkway and Coney Island Avenue and local stops elsewhere. When the B6 Limited is operating, local service is provided west of Rockaway Parkway, with some weekday B6 local trips short turning at Coney Island Avenue. On Sundays, B6 trips alternate between Rockaway Parkway and New Lots Avenue.
History
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The B6 began as the Bay Parkway bus, initiated by Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit, or the BMT, on August 24, 1931. In 1968, service on Cozine Avenue was supplemented by the new B84 bus (different from the current B84),[2] which was later merged into the B6. In 1989, the B6 was extended from Ashford Street and Cozine Avenue to New Lots Avenue station. In May 2000, the MTA announced a plan to implement limited-stop service on weekdays between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m., with local trips only running on the limited-stop section between Rockaway Parkway station and Coney Island Avenue.[3] This was implemented on September 11, 2000[4] and limited-stop service was later expanded to run on Saturdays alongside the expansion of local trips to/from Bath Beach.
On December 1, 2022, the MTA released a draft redesign of the Brooklyn bus network.[5][6] As part of the redesign, service would be rerouted onto Avenue H between Flatbush Avenue and Albany Avenue, along with service being streamlined onto Glenwood Road between Ralph Avenue and East 80th Street to remove a difficult turn at Ralph Avenue/Flatlands Avenue. All B6 local buses would run/to from Bath Beach/Gravesend, alongside a new B5 Limited bus, which would run alongside the B6 Limited, but run to Gateway Center instead of New Lots Avenue. B6 Limited (and by extension, B5 Limited) service would be expanded to run on Sundays as well.[7][8][9]
References
- "Facts and Figures". mta.info. August 28, 2011. Archived from the original on September 24, 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
- "1960s bus timetables". Flickr. New York City Transit Authority. 1966. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
- May 2000 NYC Transit Committee Agenda. New York City Transit. May 16, 2000. pp. 106, 107, 108-109, 110, 111, 112, 113.
- "B6 Introducing Limited-Stop service on weekdays". New York Daily News. September 8, 2000. p. 160. Archived from the original on February 4, 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- Brachfeld, Ben (December 1, 2022). "Draft plan for new Brooklyn bus network aims to finally end decades of slow, unreliable service". amNewYork. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
- "Brooklyn bus riders could finally get faster service under MTA redesign". Crain's New York Business. December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
- "Draft Plan: B5 Limited". MTA. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
- "Draft Plan: B6 Local". MTA. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
- "Draft Plan: B6 Limited". MTA. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
External links
Media related to B6 (New York City bus) at Wikimedia Commons