B6 (New York City bus)

The B6 constitutes a bus route between Bath Beach and East New York in Brooklyn, New York City. Originally operated by Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit, the route is operated by the MTA Regional Bus Operations under the New York City Transit Authority brand.

The B6 has consistently ranked as one of the busiest bus routes in the city, being the busiest bus route in Brooklyn, and ranked third overall citywide, with over 6 million people riding the route in 2023.

Route description
The eastbound B6 starts at Cropsey Avenue and Bay 37th Street. It continues north to Bay Parkway and runs north on Bay Parkway until Avenue J, continuing on it until turning north on Bedford Avenue, passing through Brooklyn College. After turning east onto Glenwood Road, it runs past Flatbush Junction before dogleg turning onto Avenue H via Albany Avenue, it runs onto Avenue H before once again dogleg turning onto Flatlands Avenue via Ralph Avenue, later running on Flatlands Avenue before transitioning back to Glenwood Road, running on East 96th Street eastbound and passing through Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway. It continues east on Glenwood Road, which becomes Cozine Avenue until running north on Ashford Street. Northbound buses dogleg turn onto Cleveland Street via Hegeman Avenue before shifting on Livonia Avenue and terminating at Ashford Street, by the New Lots Avenue station.

The westbound B6 starts at New Lots Avenue, turning onto Warwick Street and dogleg turning onto Ashford Street via New Lots Avenue. It continues south and shares routing with the eastbound routing until Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway, where it stops inside of the station's bus loop. It then runs south on Rockaway Parkway before turning west onto Flatlands Avenue, continuing and sharing routing with the eastbound routing once again, until Cropsey Avenue, where it continues south before turning west on Shore Parkway to serve Caesar's Bay Shopping Center and later running north on 26th Avenue. It later turns west on Cropsey Avenue until terminating at Bay 37th Street.



On weekdays and Saturdays, the B6 employs limited-stop service, making limited stops between Rockaway Parkway and Coney Island Avenue and local stops elsewhere. When the B6 Limited is operating, local service is provided west of Rockaway Parkway, with some weekday B6 local trips short turning at Coney Island Avenue. On Sundays, B6 trips alternate between Rockaway Parkway and New Lots Avenue.

History


The B6 began as the Bay Parkway bus, initiated by Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit, or the BMT, on August 24, 1931. In 1968, service on Cozine Avenue was supplemented by the new B84 bus (different from the current B84), which was later merged into the B6.

On November 7, 1982, the routes of the B6 and B50 in Canarsie and Spring Creek were swapped between Rockaway Parkway and Pennsylvania Avenue. The B6, which had previously run along Flatlands Avenue along this whole segment would run along Flatlands Avenue, East 103rd Street, and Glenwood Road, while the B50, which had run along Glenwood Road, would run along Flatlands Avenue.

On May 10, 1987, as a part of a series of changes to B6 and B11 bus service, with the shortening of the B11 to Brooklyn College, a third-leg transfer would be introduced between the B6 and B11 to ensure that riders would not have to pay a second fare. In addition, B6 service was rerouted to Glenwood Road from Flatlands Avenue between East 103rd Street and Rockaway Parkway, and eastbound service was rerouted to stay on Avenue H and Ralph Avenue instead of East 56th Street and Farragut Road. Weekday and Saturday service operating only between Cozine Avenue and Ashford Street and Rockaway Parkway station was increased.

In 1989, the B6 was extended from Ashford Street and Cozine Avenue to New Lots Avenue station. In May 2000, the MTA announced a plan to implement limited-stop service on weekdays between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m., with local trips only running on the limited-stop section between Rockaway Parkway station and Coney Island Avenue. This was implemented on September 11, 2000 and limited-stop service was later expanded to run on Saturdays alongside the expansion of local trips to/from Bath Beach.

On December 1, 2022, the MTA released a draft redesign of the Brooklyn bus network. As part of the redesign, service would be rerouted onto Avenue H between Flatbush Avenue and Albany Avenue, along with service being streamlined onto Glenwood Road between Ralph Avenue and East 80th Street to remove a difficult turn at Ralph Avenue/Flatlands Avenue. All B6 local buses would run/to from Bath Beach/Gravesend, alongside a new B5 Limited bus, which would run alongside the B6 Limited, but run to Gateway Center instead of New Lots Avenue. B6 Limited (and by extension, B5 Limited) service would be expanded to run on Sundays as well.