Bus riders waited at least 15 minutes for this crowded B61 during the morning rush today. A practically empty B61 was bunched up right behind it. Photo: Ben Fried

Toward the end of a press conference at the corner of Fourth Avenue and 9th Street this morning, Council Member Brad Lander remarked that not a single B61 bus came by during the 15-minute event. This was only fitting, since Lander was unveiling a new report from his office that found most rush hour B61 buses don’t arrive within the guidelines established by the MTA.

During rush hours, the B61 is supposed to arrive every eight to ten minutes, but the service is anything but reliable, according to the report, “Next Bus Please.” Fully 57 percent of buses are either spaced at least three minutes farther apart than they’re supposed to be, or bunched at least three minutes tighter together. For straphangers this translates into long waits, crowded buses, and the frustration of watching an empty B61 pull up right as you’re boarding that jam-packed bus.

“It gets really packed every morning,” said Vian Hernandez, a senior at South Brooklyn Community High School in Red Hook, who transfers from the train to the B61 to get to school. “Sometimes it comes really late.”

The current B61 route is the byproduct of the 2010 MTA service cuts (themselves a byproduct of Albany budget raids, the mounting cost of MTA debt service, and the collapse of the real estate market). The line was extended east from Red Hook to Park Slope and Windsor Terrace, absorbing passengers who used to take the now-defunct B75 and B77. The nearby B37 and B71, which served parallel routes, were also eliminated, and the Smith-9th Street subway stop has been closed for maintenance since June, further increasing reliance on the B61.

A year and a half after the cuts took effect, the study from Lander, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, and City Council Member Sara Gonzalez documents the strain on the riders who depend on this line, which is now the only bus or subway route that directly serves Red Hook.

Service seems to be deteriorating. A November, 2010 New York City Transit study of the B61 found that 36 percent of buses were arriving outside the MTA’s service guidelines. While NYCT was looking at all buses, not just rush hour service, the authors of “Next Bus Please” say their measurements — 57 percent of rush hour buses failing to meet the guidelines — indicate things have gotten worse on the B61 since then.

They outline a package of improvements for the bus line, including additional peak-hour service, limited stop service for the most popular stops, real-time arrival info, and better contingency routes in the event that a ship passes through the Gowanus Canal at the 9th Street Bridge, a drawbridge that can delay B61s for up to 15 minutes.

Some of those recommendations should come at little or no cost to the financially strapped MTA. (One recommendation, for instance, calls for merging bus stops that are too close together, which could actually cut the cost of operating the B61.) While adding peak hour service won’t be free, the MTA has restored service on several lines since the 2010 cuts in response to rider demand and political pressure. “Next Bus Please” is, I believe, the most rigorous and thorough attempt to document why additional service would benefit a specific bus line.

Velazquez said that Red Hook’s dependence on the B61 justifies the increased service. “The MTA has to prioritize needs,” she said. “Red Hook suffers from a lack of transportation options.”

The authors have shown the report to the MTA and are awaiting a response.

DOT considers this the optimal route for a Red Hook streetcar, but recommended against the whole project. Image: NYC DOT

Proposed Red Hook streetcars aren’t worth the cost, according to the city DOT. In a presentation to community groups last Thursday [PDF], DOT revealed the results of its streetcar feasibility study and recommended against the construction of a line that would run from the Smith/9th subway station into Red Hook and up the waterfront to Borough Hall. The creation of a streetcar or light rail line along the northern Brooklyn or western Queens waterfront was a Bloomberg campaign promise in 2009.

The most fundamental critique in the study is that the streetcar would cost too much for too little. Building the 6.8 mile line is estimated to cost $176 million, with another $6.2-7.2 million in annual operating costs. According to DOT’s analysis, that investment would only create 1,822 new daily transit riders.

DOT also found that the streetcar wouldn’t offer quicker travel times or more reliable service than existing buses.

The low increase in ridership comes not only because of the lack of mobility benefits, but also because in Red Hook, where 81.5 percent of households don’t own a car, many residents are already transit-dependent.

We have a call in with DOT to learn more about the premises that underlie this study. More information should also be available in the full report, which is due out today.

The logistics of running a streetcar line through the neighborhood seem to have been greatly complicated by the department’s fear of removing parking spaces.

The presentation focuses on the difficulties of fitting streetcars onto Red Hook’s narrow streets, especially if you want to preserve existing bike lanes, and giving streetcars enough space to make tight turns. The presentation suggests that parking bans along the street or at intersections could solve those problems (the other option is narrowing sidewalks, which ought to be a non-starter for a pedestrian-friendly administration).

A final objection, though, seems to reveal either a lack of coordination between city agencies or a study designed to reject the streetcar in advance. Having looked at streetcar projects in other cities, DOT found that installing the transit line would only promote economic development if it was paired with changes to the area’s land use planning. Noting that the Department of City Planning doesn’t have any plans to upzone Red Hook’s residential areas or otherwise plan for growth, the DOT study concludes that the “current City development/land use policy is not complementary to streetcar as an economic development driver.”

If the Department of City Planning truly wouldn’t adjust Red Hook’s zoning in response to a major new piece of transit infrastructure, that would be a failure of coordination within the Bloomberg administration, not to mention a rejection of the concept of transit-oriented development. Alternatively, what this might really suggest is that the administration was not serious about a streetcar in the first place. After all, why should DCP plan a rezoning if DOT isn’t planning a streetcar line?

Instead of a streetcar, DOT proposes reworking the intersection of Mill Street and Hamilton Avenue, with the goal of improving pedestrian, bike, and bus access into Red Hook, as well as some additional shelters along the B61 bus route.

Would a new streetcar line for Red Hook use vintage-style cars or go for a more modern style?

The city first committed to the study this spring, using funds secured by Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez back in 2005. Today’s announcement gives the study a timeline and signals the selection of a consultant, engineering firm URS, who’ll conduct it.

Streetcars are making comebacks in several American cities, with new lines getting boosts from the Obama DOT’s emphasis on livability. In New York, it’s still very early in the process — the beginning of the beginning. There are lots of unknowns, like where the line would run, how it would interact with existing B61 bus service, who would operate it, what sort of economic development initiatives would be paired with it, and, of course, where the money would come from to finance it.

When the study is over early next year, we should have a clearer picture when it comes to some of those questions. From DOT’s press release:

This initial analysis is the first step in determining if this mode, once a staple of New York City’s streets, is a viable option to connect the residents and businesses of the rapidly growing Red Hook neighborhood with Brooklyn’s broader transportation system and support economic development…

The analysis will take into account factors including potential costs, operations, routing, vehicle technology, construction issues and economic development effects. It will also examine comparable North American streetcar systems to determine what lessons can be learned from the experience of other urban areas.

Over the next five months, the city will also be holding a series of meetings with elected officials and community groups about the potential streetcar route, so stay tuned.

Streetsblog will be offline tomorrow for Rosh Hashanah and back publishing on Monday. Shanah Tovah everyone!

It's a long walk from the Red Hook West houses to the nearest subway stop at Smith-9th Street, and even longer to train connections at Fourth Avenue. Without night-time B77 service, a lot of commuters from the largest public housing project in Brooklyn will have to make that trek -- including a dash beneath the BQE -- on a regular basis. With MTA rescue talks currently at a standstill in Albany, about 100 Red Hook residents marched yesterday in protest of the austerity measures that will soon take effect. Clarence Eckerson documented the rally, organized by the Red Hook East and West Tenants Association.

The B77 serves Velmanette Montgomery's Senate district. Last week, after we ran a post questioning why Montgomery had basically taken the same position as the Fare Hike Four, her office emailed us to clarify. We were directed to a statement on the senator's website, which is best summed up by the following tagline: "Before we cut the service, let's cut the fat."

Given that the MTA has in fact streamlined itself under Lee Sander, and that its crushing debt load will get even worse without a solid, long-term funding plan -- not to mention the service cuts and fare hikes about to hit Montgomery's constituents -- shouldn't the senator be doing all in her power to push for a viable rescue of the MTA? We have a call in to Montgomery's office to find out what she proposes to do next.

The Forum for Urban Design announced the winner of its Red Hook bicycle plan competition Monday night, awarding top honors to Brooklyn native Jonathan Rule. The competition sought out ideas to make transit-poor Red Hook the city's most bikeable neighborhood, asking entrants to lay out bike routes and design a bike parking "loft" for the Smith-9th Street subway station.

Rule's winning entry includes more than a dozen bike rental "nodes" sponsored by local businesses -- a proposal that could be described as a neighborhood bike-share network. His bike loft design, less attention-grabbing than the massive, F train-encircling wheel proposed by runner-up HOK Sport, gets points for feasibility.

What happens to the winning design now? Forum director Lisa Chamberlain hopes the competition entries rub off on jury members from DOT and City Planning, reports The Architect's Newspaper. Optimistic readers will note that there is extra time to incorporate some of Rule's ideas: The MTA recently pushed back a planned renovation of the Smith-9th Street station from 2010 to 2011.

We hate to pile on more bad news today, but these tipster-submitted photos of the Brooklyn Ikea grand opening bear witness to the onslaught of traffic about to engulf Red Hook. Apparently, the cars queuing up for cheaply-constructed furniture are stretching the store's 1,400 parking spaces to the max (which would explain why Ikea thought it necessary to annex the old Revere Sugar refinery lot next door). Judging from this anecdotal evidence, Red Hook will not only be subject to the 17,000 car trips projected for peak days, but most of those vehicles will be of the huge, extra-cargo-hauling variety.

One shopper, at least, braved the trip on a bike, despite the fact that Ikea's website doesn't supply directions to cyclists. His picture comes after the jump.

Earlier this week, the Forum For Urban Design announced the Red Hook Bicycle Master Plan Design Competition, offering cash prizes for the best proposals to "re-imagine Red Hook as the most bicycle friendly neighborhood in all of New York."

Plans should center on the creation of a bike loft parking facility at the Smith/9th Street subway station, now scheduled for a 2010 remodeling. The Forum envisions a garage with space for at least 100 bikes, accessible to both neighborhood and visiting cyclists via "dedicated bike lanes and routes." Plans should also include feasible funding proposals.

Competition details may be found on the Forum For Urban Design web site, as well as in this video from Brian Lehrer Live, in which Lehrer interviews the Forum's Lisa Chamberlain and Loreal Monroe while looking at a couple of Streetfilms for inspiration.

The registration deadline is June 2; submission deadline July 31.

When I first met Brian McCormick, Milton Puryear and Meg Fellerath in the spring of 2002, they were picking up trash and planting tulips alongside a Brooklyn-Queens Expressway off-ramp in Cobble Hill. I asked them what they were up to and they told me they were working to create a waterfront greenway for Brooklyn -- a linear park running from Greenpoint to Red Hook. I didn't have the heart to tell them they looked like a gang of juvenile delinquents paying off 40 hours of community service for shop-lifting. Clearly, these people were either insane or visionary.

At the time, Brian, Milton and Meg had no serious funding, no office and no particularly powerful allies or sponsors. They just had a great idea and a ton of persistence. They kept picking up trash, planting flowers, organizing the community and pushing their idea. Today the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative is a professional non-profit organization with capital funding from the federal government, an office on Columbia Street and all kinds of high-powered allies and sponsors. They may or may not be insane, but they are definitely visionary.

Personally, I find the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative to be one of the most inspired and exciting community-driven development projects in all of New York City (take that, High Line). This Thursday evening, BGI is hosting a benefit event on the beach at East River State Park. There will be cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and music. If you are not already involved in the Greenway, this is a great chance to get in on the ground floor of shaping the future of Brooklyn’s waterfront and, in the process, creating a more livable city.

Thursday, June 28th, at 6:30 pm
East River State Park, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
RVSP: Buy tickets online
View the invitation (pdf)

For a few short hours last weekend, Red Hook, Brooklyn, had an answer. In the middle of Van Brunt Street, the neighborhood's main drag and the primary conduit for the dramatically increased vehicle traffic generated by the new Fairway, an artist erected a mental speed bump in the middle of the street.

When I heard about it, I thought of what Allan B. Jacobs says about great intersections: "The reason great intersections work is because of the creation of a pedestrian realm where the cars know this. When streets become unsafe, it is almost always when the pedestrian realm does not exist."

In many parts of Van Brunt Street, the pedestrian realm effectively does not exist. One person has been killed on Van Brunt since Fairway moved in--a death that was essentially predicted by the chief of the 76th Precinct--and a resident interviewed by the Brooklyn Paper said he sees "accidents every week and near accidents almost daily. It wasn't like this even a year ago."

Red Hook locals angered by last year's pedestrian death demonstrated to protest the traffic conditions, and the DOT eventually responded by saying a traffic light will be installed--at some future point--at the corner of Van Brunt and Sullivan.

It's a shame, though, that a traffic light is the only solution the city thinks to look for, and that the warrant for a traffic light only becomes relevant once the number of car trips reaches a certain threshold. Because there is still question whether a traffic light is really what is needed. Perhaps a stop sign, or more permanent forms of mental speed bumps, would yield better outcomes.

Red Hook in transition: Will the neighborhood be defined by cars and traffic or people and places?

Until Fairway came into the neighborhood, the sidewalks and many businesses of Van Brunt Street were among the most important destinations in Red Hook. Though the experience of them has been degraded by increased traffic (and just wait until IKEA opens), they remain valuable to the people living there and in the surrounding neighborhoods. The city's DOT, EDC and consultants, however, see Van Brunt not as a destination in itself, but as a street with excess road capacity, prime to be exploited. Until there is congestion, or more people die, the "impacts" of the new traffic will not show up on their radar.

By just focusing on moving traffic and then evaluating its impacts later, we are degrading and isolating our existing neighborhood destinations and the communities they define. If transportation planning is supposed to facilitate getting people places, then its primary goal should be to create places worth going to, then maximizing their accessibility by creating more successful places nearby. This is perhaps the very nature of how we create a great, livable and walkable street.

In the name of mobility, transportation planners have forgotten to create and support destinations, and have instead often degraded existing destinations along the way. Mobility may be increasing, but we are accomplishing less and less while moving around more and more.

The Added Value market and farm project is creating a destination that celebrates the neighborhood.

Let's take food shopping as an example. A destination like Fairway offers a limited and predictable set of benefits-a dazzling selection of food flown from in around the world (made possible by a food system that emphasizes food mobility while undermining food access). Red Hook's Added Value farmers' market, in contrast, or any other such market in Brooklyn, doesn't offer that global selection. But if you shop there, especially if you travel by foot or bike or public transit, you might well accomplish 10 other things along the way-several of which may have been unplanned. It is this wealth of unplanned destinations that make many of Brooklyn's neighborhood streets some of the best in the world.

This simple piece of temporary artwork in the middle of an intersection is a strong statement that neighborhood streets need attention as more than just conduits to "keep traffic moving smoothly." Perhaps this small act can be a turning point for Red Hook and for the city. Perhaps we start planning for neighborhood and community outcomes first, with the idea that local action will engender the broadest citywide outcomes (rather than the other way around). But it all comes down to how we treat each intersection, and good planning is very likely going to be more art than engineering.

I recently took this boat, a water taxi, from Red Hook to South Street Seaport. Landing at the Seaport after having just been in Red Hook about five minutes earlier gives one an odd supernatural sense of having been teleported.

Not surprisingly, the opening of the popular new Fairway Market in Red Hook, has significantly increased daily motor vehicle mayhem in this formerly moribund corner of Brooklyn.

Last Thursday evening, July 6, at about 10 pm, Red Hook suffered its first-known Fairway casualty when a woman was hit by a gray minivan at the intersection of Van Brunt and Wolcott Streets. The van had just exited the Fairway parking lot five blocks away. Her name and condition has not been released, though, hospital officials say that she is alive.

For months prior to the opening of the new Fairway, Red Hook residents clamored for DOT to do something to prevent the expected traffic crush. The 16-block stretch of Van Brunt from the waterfront to Hamilton Avenue has only one traffic signal and that was installed with the opening of the new Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in April.

The Daily News spoke with some of the locals about the situation:

"We need a damn light," said Madigan Shive, 29, a waitress at the Hope and Anchor diner just steps from the [crash] scene.

"This neighborhood is just not ready for the traffic," she said, adding two weeks ago she saw a car strike a kid on a bicycle at the same intersection.

Red Hook Civic Association President John McGettrick has also been pressing the city for a traffic signal at Van Brunt and Wolcott Streets.

DOT refuses to install one and has chosen to wait until the Fall before doing any analysis of or planning for the traffic problems created by the new grocery store and the neighborhood's booming development.

Agency spokesperson Kay Sarlin told the Daily News that traffic signals could not be installed on Van Brunt because the area's traffic counts did not meet federal guidelines. She said:

There also must be a certain number of cars traveling through the area to meet federal standards for new traffic lights, she said, and added that as recently as this winter - when DOT studied the need for cars - "the traffic didn't warrant it."

This line about adhering to federal standards is something that DOT often tells community groups when DOT does not want to do what the community is asking it to do.

The federal guideline that Sarlin is referring to is the Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices, or MUTCD.

MUTCD is just a guidline. It is not law. The manual provides a set of recommendations that municipalities around the country can choose to follow or not. Very often, these guidelines are completely irrelevant to New York City, which has a very different transportation environment than most of the rest of the sprawling, suburban United States.

But don't take it from me. Let Michael Primeggia, DOT's Deputy Commissioner for Traffic Operations explain it to you himself:

Below is a one-minute video clip filmed at a Union Square community meeting in October, 2005:

For some time now, community and business groups around Union Square have been pushing to make a number of improvements to the area. One of the smaller items on their list is a mid-block crosswalk connecting the north side of Union Square Park to the entrance of the Barnes & Noble on 17th Street.

In this video clip you will first see DOT Manhattan Borough Commissioner Margaret Forgione telling the communty that federal guidelines prevent the city from installing a mid-block crosswalk on 17th Street, the same thing Sarlin told the Daily News.

Next, an audience member, off camera, asks whether these federal guidelines "are a legal requirement or not."

Primeggia, who rarely speaks in public, jumps in to answer the question. He says, "None of the warrants are legal requirements. They all are guidelines that we use and that we choose to follow."

Just as there is no federal rule or law preventing DOT from installing a midblock crosswalk at Union Square, there is no law preventing DOT from installing traffic signals in Red Hook. As Primeggia says, The federal standards are just "guidelines." DOT can "choose to follow" them or not.

Clearly, it is important for a big city transportation agency to have a strong set of policies and to implement them consistently. But when DOT tells New York City communities that a federal "warrant" prevents the installation of traffic signals, crosswalks, or anything else, DOT is trying to pass the buck and avoid accountability. Federal guidelines are not forcing these policies on New York City's streets. These are policies that DOT is choosing to implement.

If you are interested in delving into this issue further, check out this fascinating 15-minute video clip in which The Open Planning Project's Mark Gorton, a professional engineer himself, breaks down DOT's engineering methodology and shows how it harms New York City:

(Photo: Bluesage on Flickr)