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B38 (New York City bus)

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b38
b38
DeKalb Avenue Line
A 2012 XD60 (4722) on the Downtown Brooklyn-bound B38 Limited along Fulton Street in June 2024.
Overview
SystemMTA Regional Bus Operations
OperatorNew York City Transit Authority
GarageGrand Avenue Depot
VehicleNew Flyer Xcelsior XD60 (main vehicle)
New Flyer Xcelsior XD40
New Flyer Xcelsior XDE40
New Flyer Xcelsior XE40 (supplemental)
Route
LocaleBrooklyn and Queens, New York, U.S.
Communities servedRidgewood, Bushwick, Bedford–Stuyvesant, Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Downtown Brooklyn
StartDowntown Brooklyn–Cadman Plaza & Tillary Street
ViaLafayette Avenue (eastbound) / DeKalb Avenue (westbound)[1]
EndRidgewood, Queens
Length5.9 miles (9.5 km)
Other routesB26 Halsey/Fulton Streets
B52 Gates Avenue
B54 Myrtle Avenue
Service
OperatesAll times (Seneca/Catalpa), All times except late nights (Metropolitan/Starr)[1]
Annual patronage3,362,541 (2023)[2]
TransfersYes
TimetableB38
← B37  {{{system_nav}}}  B39 →

The DeKalb Avenue Line is a public transit line in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, running mostly along DeKalb Avenue, as well as eastbound on Lafayette Avenue (as part of a one-way pair), between Downtown Brooklyn and Ridgewood, Queens. Originally a streetcar line, it is now the B38 DeKalb/Lafayette Avenues bus route, operated by the New York City Transit Authority.

At its east end, after crossing into Queens, the line turns southeast on Seneca Avenue and ends just short of Myrtle Avenue, at Catalpa Avenue. A branch runs northeast on Stanhope Street to Linden Hill Cemetery.

Route description

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A 2012 XD60 (4713) on the Downtown Brooklyn-bound B38 in May 2023

The B38 bus route begins at a loop around Borough Hall in Downtown Brooklyn. It heads east on Fulton Street, splitting onto DeKalb Avenue (westbound) and Lafayette Avenue (eastbound). After crossing Broadway, eastbound buses return to DeKalb Avenue via Bushwick Avenue. The route crosses into Ridgewood, Queens and turns southeast on Seneca Avenue; every other bus turns northeast on Stanhope Street to a loop around Linden Hill Cemetery, while the rest continue along Seneca Avenue to just shy of Myrtle Avenue. Along the way, transfers can be made to the subway at Court Street – Borough Hall (2, ​3​, 4, ​5​, N, R, and ​W), Jay Street – MetroTech (A, ​C​, and F and <F>​), DeKalb Avenue (BMT Fourth Avenue and Brighton Lines) (B, ​D, ​N, ​Q, ​R, and ​W), Classon Avenue (G), Kosciuszko Street (J), DeKalb Avenue (BMT Canarsie Line) (L), and Seneca Avenue (M).[3]

The B38 also employs a limited-stop service during the daytime on weekdays, making limited stops between Flatbush Avenue and Seneca Avenue. While the limited-stop service is running, B38 Limiteds serve Catalpa Avenue while local B38 buses serve the Linden Hill Cemetery. There is no overnight service to Linden Hill Cemetery.[4]

History

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Streetcar service

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After a legal battle with the Coney Island and Brooklyn Railroad (Smith Street Line), which shared Water Street west of Main Street,[5] and in which it was decided that the CI&B would own two tracks and give the BC&N trackage rights over one,[6] the Brooklyn City and Newtown Rail Road opened the line to the public on January 28, 1862. The route stretched from Fulton Ferry east to stables at Throop Avenue and a depot at Marcus Garvey Boulevard (then Yates Avenue, later Sumner Avenue). Tracks were laid in Fulton Street, Front Street, Gold Street, Willoughby Street, University Plaza (then Debevoise Street), and DeKalb Avenue.[7][8][9][10] The eastbound track, in Water Street and Bridge Street rather than Front Street and Gold Street, was soon opened. By July, the line was extended northeast on DeKalb Avenue and southeast on Seneca Avenue to the Myrtle Avenue Park in Ridgewood, Queens.[11]

In order to enable the company to avoid the narrow Debevoise Street and a dangerous westbound curve at Debevoise Street and DeKalb Avenue,[12][13] a law was passed in 1869 to allow a single track in DeKalb Avenue and Gold Street between Debevoise Street and Willoughby Street. The company laid a single track plus a "siding", but used both for revenue service, rerouting all trains in both directions to the new route in August 1869.[14] Eastbound trains were moved back to Willoughby Street and Debevoise Street once a single track was built to replace the two;[15] by then, the Hunter's Point and Prospect Park Railroad (Crosstown Line) was also using Willoughby Street.[16][17]

Starting on May 3, 1871, the Park Avenue Railroad's Vanderbilt Avenue Line shared the tracks between Fulton Ferry and Concord Street.[18] In March 1872, a law was passed to allow the BC&N to build in DeKalb Avenue west from Debevoise Street to Fulton Street, and use the Brooklyn City Rail Road's trackage in Fulton Street to Fulton Ferry.[19] After some opposition from the City Railroad,[20] the route was changed in April to turn off on Washington Street after passing City Hall.[21] Despite objections from Washington Street residents,[22] the new route, using Washington Street north to Front and Water Streets,[23] was opened on September 4, 1872.[24] The old route continued to be used by short-turn trains to Yates Avenue.[25] The BC&N stopped using the old route later that decade, but the Vanderbilt Avenue Line continued to use it until 1883, when it built a track in Concord Street west of Bridge Street in order to serve the new Brooklyn Bridge.[26][27][28]

The Coney Island and Brooklyn Railroad leased BC&N on December 1, 1897[29][30] and this became an important CI&B branchline.[31]: 182  The DeKalb Avenue and North Beach Railroad (also leased to the Coney Island and Brooklyn) built the branch on Stanhope Street.[32][33][34] Buses were substituted for streetcars on January 30, 1949.[35]

Bus service

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A 2005 Orion VII OG HEV (6625) on the B38 on Smith Street at Fulton Mall

Prior to January 2019, the B38 local was based out of the Grand Avenue Depot while the B38 Limited was based out of the Fresh Pond Depot. On weekends, buses from both depots were utilized on the local route. On January 6, 2019, the B38 became fully assigned to the Grand Avenue Depot since the route was planned to be converted to using articulated buses, which was announced by the MTA in July 2019. Consistent with the conversions of other bus routes, the frequency of service was decreased by 1 to 3 minutes on weekdays, and by 2 to 3 minutes on weekends, as each articulated bus can fit 115 passengers, compared to the 85 riders that can fit onto a standard 40 feet (12 m)-long bus. In order to accommodate the longer articulated bus stops, four bus stops in Brooklyn and five stops along Seneca Avenue in Queens were discontinued during the week of August 12–16, 2019. In addition, 14 bus stops were adjusted. The route started using articulated buses on September 1, 2019.[36][37][38]

On December 1, 2022, the MTA released a draft redesign of the Brooklyn bus network.[39][40] As part of the redesign, all B38 buses would operate to Catalpa Avenue at all times, and the Metropolitan Avenue/Linden Hill Cemetery branch would be discontinued. Closely-spaced stops would be removed. The B38 Limited would also be discontinued because the increased stop spacing would make it redundant.[41]

An Orion VII NG HEV on the Metropolitan Avenue-bound B38 local near Brooklyn Tech, as seen from Ashland Place in Fort Greene

References

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  1. ^ a b MTA Regional Bus Operations. "B38 bus schedule".
  2. ^ "Subway and bus ridership for 2023". mta.info. April 29, 2024. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
  3. ^ "Brooklyn Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  4. ^ "Brooklyn Bus Service" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  5. ^ "The Rival Railroad Companies". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 2 October 1861. p. 3.
  6. ^ "The Fight Between the Newtown and Coney Island Railroad Companies". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 12 February 1862. p. 2.
  7. ^ "The Newtown Railroad". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 2 January 1862. p. 2.
  8. ^ "City and Newtown Railroad Co". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 18 January 1862. p. 3.
  9. ^ "The Opening of the Newtown Railroad". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 27 January 1862. p. 3.
  10. ^ "The Newtown Railroad". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 28 January 1862. p. 2.
  11. ^ "The Brooklyn City and Newtown Railroad Company". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 11 March 1869. p. 2.
  12. ^ "Local Railroads". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 15 March 1869. p. 3.
  13. ^ "Change of Railroad Route". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 24 May 1869. p. 10.
  14. ^ "Corporate Sharp Practice". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 14 August 1869. p. 2.
  15. ^ "DeKalb Avenue Railroad". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 25 August 1869. p. 3.
  16. ^ "Cross Town Railroad". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 9 April 1869. p. 2.
  17. ^ "Travel". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 3 June 1869. p. 4.
  18. ^ "The Park Avenue Line of Cars". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 3 May 1871. p. 4.
  19. ^ "From Albany". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 28 March 1872. p. 4.
  20. ^ "Rival Railroads". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 20 March 1872. p. 4.
  21. ^ "From Albany". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 3 April 1872. p. 3.
  22. ^ "Railroad Matters". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 5 April 1872. p. 3.
  23. ^ "The Change of the DeKalb Avenue Railroad". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 16 July 1872. p. 4.
  24. ^ "Change of Route". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 4 September 1872. p. 3.
  25. ^ David Rumsey Map Collection, J.B. Beers & Co., A new and complete street directory of Brooklyn, 1874; the following routes are listed for the "Dekalb Avenue R. R.":
    ROUTE NO. 1. Fulton Ferry to Montrose Avenue, via Water, Washington and Fulton Streets and Dekalb Avenue and Chestnut St., to City Line. Returning by same route to Front, thence through Front and Fulton Sts.
    ROUTE No. 2. Fulton Ferry to Yates Ave., via Water, Bridge and Willoughby Sts., Debevoise Place and Dekalb Ave. Returning by Dekalb Ave., Gold, Front and Fulton Streets.
  26. ^ "Events in Brooklyn". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 10 June 1883. p. 5.
  27. ^ "Unused Tracks". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 2 October 1883. p. 2.
  28. ^ "The Board of Aldermen". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. 10 June 1884. p. 2.
  29. ^ Watson, Edward B.; Linder, Bernard (October 1969). "Brooklyn Trolley Companies" (PDF). New York Division Bulletin. 12 (5). Electric Railroaders' Association: 3–7.
  30. ^ Senate, New York (State) Legislature (1917). Documents of the Senate of the State of New York. E. Croswell. p. 565.
  31. ^ Cudahy, Brian (2002). How We Got to Coney Island. New York: Fordham University Press. ISBN 0823222098. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  32. ^ The City Record: Official Journal. New York City. 1900. p. 7489.
  33. ^ Commissioners, New York (State) Board of Railroad (1901). Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of New York.
  34. ^ Commissioners, New York (State) Board of Railroad (1901). Annual Report.
  35. ^ Linder, Bernard (August 1965). "BMT Trolley Routes 1940-1956" (PDF). New York Division Bulletin. 8 (3). Electric Railroaders' Association: 7.
  36. ^ "B38 Bus Timetable" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 1, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  37. ^ Wong, Pamela (August 14, 2019). "MTA To Cut 4 Brooklyn Stops On B38 Route With Switch To Longer Buses". Bklyner. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  38. ^ Wong, Pamela (August 6, 2019). "Myrtle Ave BID Petitions Against B54 Bus Cuts, Rally On Thursday". Bklyner. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  39. ^ 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.
  40. ^ "Brooklyn bus riders could finally get faster service under MTA redesign". Crain's New York Business. December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  41. ^ "Draft Plan: B38 Local". MTA. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
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