MTA is proposing changes to a Coney Island bus line which would bring less frequent service and longer waits to an already transit-starved neighborhood.
According to the agency’s Spring 2024 proposal, there would be less bus service for B82, which runs between Stillwell Avenue and the Spring Creek Towers on Seaview Avenue, and increased running times — the amount of time it takes between each terminal.
Additionally, afternoon peak headways — the amount of time riders have to wait for the bus — would increase from 10 to 12 minutes and evening headways from 10 to 15 minutes.
An MTA representative said the agency routinely checks ridership across various bus lines to see if any “adjustments” need to be made to schedules — and cited decreased ridership on the line during a recent period. The agency also considers the B82 proposal a “modest change,” claiming all efforts focus on making a schedule that better matches the actual time it takes to operate the buses.
But, area Council Member Justin Brannan says the proposed adjustments won’t fare too well with southern Brooklynites.
“I don’t care what they call it, this is a cut. If a person has to wait longer for a bus to arrive at their stop, that’s not an improvement by any measure,” he told Brooklyn Paper. “Hardworking Coney Islanders need more public transportation options not less — especially now when so many people are commuting outside of the old standard 9 to 5.”
This upcoming service change for the B82 comes alongside similar service modifications to other Bronx and Queens bus lines. For more information, check out the MTA’s full proposal.
