By Helen Klein
Riders of the B-16 bus can expect better service, beginning this month. After New York City Transit (TA) received complaints and a petition from State Senator Marty Golden back in November, the agency looked into problems reported for the line, which runs from Fourth Avenue and Shore Road, along 86th Street and Fort Hamilton Parkway, skirts Green Wood Cemetery and the Parade Grounds before ending up at Flatbush Avenue and Lincoln Road. The result was a decision by the TA to make adjustments to the schedule, “To better reflect traffic along the route,” said Golden. As TA President Lawrence Reuter said, in a letter to Golden, the agency had, “Found that additional running time is necessary to address increasing traffic conditions and improve service reliability.” Among the complaints reported by Golden were long waits, sometimes as much as 30 or 45 minutes, because of lack of adherence to the published schedule. This, said Golden, has been a hardship to the many area senior citizens who use the route, often outside of rush hours. The senator welcomed the news that the TA would be retooling the bus schedule. “Maintaining efficient transportation service is a top priority of mine,” he noted. John Quaglione, a spokesperson for Golden, said that the senator was, “Pleased that we got such a favorable and quick response,” and was anticipating, “Changes that will satisfy the needs of the senior citizens of the community and all the people who use that service.” Of particular moment, Quaglione added, is the fact that non-rush hour usage of the line was heavier than seen on other Brooklyn bus lines, because of the large population of elderly people in the community who travel about, from mid-morning through mid-afternoon, visiting doctors, going to area senior centers, and doing shopping and other errands. “The rush hour schedule on the bus,” said Quaglione, “doesn’t exactly hold weight with them. We have steady high activity on bus routes in Bay Ridge, so the long waits and infrequency of service were not meeting the needs of the constituency.”
