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Brooklyn's Flatbush Avenue gets bus lanes, pedestrian islands under DOT plan
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Jun 4, 2025
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NYC Department of Transportation
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Jun 4, 2025
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A notoriously gridlocked stretch of Brooklyn’s Flatbush Avenue would be transformed into a bus rider’s paradise under a plan revealed by the city's Department of Transportation on Wednesday.
The redesign, which has been years in the making, aims to replace two car lanes with bus-only lanes in the center of the avenue between Livingston Street and Grand Army Plaza. The change would install pedestrian islands in the middle of the street, fitted with benches and canopies where riders can wait to board the bus.
Cars would be banned from the two bus lanes 24 hours a day, officials said. The street would also lose some curbside parking spaces, though DOT representatives did not specify exactly how many.
The layout is the most aggressive of the three redesign proposals for Flatbush Avenue released by the DOT last year. After previously saying they’d make changes to the street this summer, DOT officials on Wednesday declined to provide a timeline for the project, noting they would first present the pitch to Brooklyn Community Board 2 on Thursday.
Still, the effort marks a major step for Mayor Eric Adams’ shaky record on improving New York City’s bus service, which is the slowest in the country. Transit advocates have criticized Adams for scaling back major street redesign projects.
After pledging to install 150 miles of new bus lanes during Adams' first term, the DOT has installed just 27 new miles since the mayor took office at the start of 2022.
Buses move just 4 mph along the most congested stretch of Flatbush Avenue during peak periods.
NYC Department of Transportation
But this year, he’s taken some steps to change course, including a promise to ban most car traffic and install a dedicated “busway” on 34th Street in Manhattan.
“Right now, Flatbush Avenue above Prospect Park doesn’t work for anyone: almost 70,000 daily bus riders are stuck waiting too long for slow buses, drivers are caught in a mess of traffic and pedestrians are left crossing intersections clogged with vehicles,” Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez wrote in a statement. “Our proposal would address each of these issues and create a world-class, welcoming corridor for everyone.”
The DOT said the proposed redesign would speed up service on the 12 bus routes that run along the corridor. The busiest of the routes, the B41, runs at an average speed of just 4 mph during peak hours, city data shows.
“For decades, the city has been looking for better service, and now, finally, this proposal is near reality,” said Danny Pearlstein, spokesperson for the advocacy group Riders Alliance. “The DOT is picking its most robust bus lane treatment ever.”
City transportation officials said the changes would also improve street safety along the stretch, noting 55 people have been killed or severely injured in car crashes there since 2019.
The DOT is still working on plans to add bus lanes to the entirety of Flatbush Avenue, all the way down to Kings Plaza. The city is also considering several proposals for a sweeping redesign of the streets surrounding Grand Army Plaza to make the area more pedestrian-friendly.
DOT officials said 60% of the people who live on or near Flatbush Avenue do not own a car and rely on painfully slow bus service. The buses along the street also primarily serve low-income and Black New Yorkers, according to the DOT.
Tagged
brooklyn
new york city
transportation
Ramsey Khalifeh
Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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