B44 Select Bus Service is too selective, say residents
It has been two and a half months since the B44 Select Bus Service (SBS) arrived on Nostrand Avenue to connect Sheepshead Bay and Williamsburg with a super-express bus option, and residents and business owners continue either to love or hate it, registering complaints with local elected officials and civic groups about increased traffic congestion, stranded commuters, and all-around inefficiency and inconvenience.
One problem, according to long-time resident and Democratic District Leader Ed Powell, is wait time. “I have seen individuals, including school-aged children and elderly people, waiting at bus stops along the B44 bus route in below-freezing temperatures, while almost empty Select Service buses pass them by,” he said. “If it does not affect you or your bus service yet, it very likely will in the future.”
That is why Powell, along with former Community Board 17 Treasurer Rickie Tulloch and Assemblymember Rhoda Jacobs are collecting signatures on a petition spearheaded by Tulloch, asking the MTA to conduct an “in-depth assessment” of the impact of the B44 SBS line on traffic congestion, ridership, efficiency and public safety.