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b13
Gates Avenue Line Crescent Street Line
A 2018 XD40 (7720) on the Bushwick-bound B13 at Seaview Avenue/Erskine Street in July 2019.
Overview
System	MTA Regional Bus Operations
Operator	New York City Transit Authority
Garage	Fresh Pond Depot
Vehicle	New Flyer Xcelsior XD40 Orion VII NG HEV
Began service	October 25, 1921
Route
Locale	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Communities served	Spring Creek, East New York, Cypress Hills, Glendale, Liberty Park, Ridgewood, Bushwick
Start	Spring Creek - Gateway Center North at Gateway Drive and Schroeders Avenue
Via	Gateway Drive, Erskine Street/Vandalia Avenue (northbound only), Seaview Avenue (southbound only), Fountain Avenue, Flatlands Avenue (northbound only), Cozine Avenue (southbound only), Stanley Avenue, Postal Facility Road, Eldert Lane, Linden Boulevard, Euclid Avenue, Sutter/Glenmore Avenues (northbound only), Liberty Avenue (southbound only), Conduit Boulevard, Crescent Street, Hemlock/Etna Streets (southbound only), Jamaica Avenue, Cypress Hills Street, Cooper Avenue, 62nd Street (northbound only), 61st Street (southbound only), Myrtle Avenue, Fresh Pond Road, Putnam Avenue (northbound only), 67th Avenue (southbound only), Forest Avenue, Grandview Avenue (southbound only), Gates Avenue, Wyckoff Avenue
End	Bushwick - Wyckoff Heights Hospital at Wyckoff Avenue and DeKalb Avenue
Length	8.7 miles (14.0 km)
Service
Operates	4:16 AM-1:17 AM
Annual patronage	1,385,430 (2023)
Transfers	Yes
Timetable	B13
Route map ← B12  {{{system_nav}}}  B14 →

The B13 is a bus route in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, which serves the corridor of Crescent Street, as well as Gates Avenue north of the Myrtle-Wyckoff Avenues station. Originally operated by Independent Buses, it is now operated by MTA Regional Bus Operations under the New York City Transit brand.

Route description

The B13 route begins at Gateway Center Mall in Spring Creek. First, the route goes around Gateway Drive. Then northbound buses head to Fountain Avenue via Erskine Street and Vandalia Avenue, while southbound buses stay on Fountain Avenue, heading to Gateway via Seaview Avenue. From Fountain, northbound buses use Flatlands Avenue to get to the first stretch of Crescent Street, with southbound buses using Cozine Avenue instead. All buses run via the Brooklyn General Mail Facility bus loop, using Stanley Avenue, Eldert Lane and Linden Boulevard. Then it makes a right onto Euclid Avenue. From there, northbound buses head to the next stretch of Crescent Street via Sutter Avenue, while southbound buses stay on Euclid. Part of Crescent is cut off by Conduit Boulevard, so northbound buses use Glenmore Avenue to go around the blockage, while southbound buses use Liberty Avenue. The rest of Crescent Street is served by all B13 service, except for southbound service north of Etna Street, in which it runs on Jamaica Avenue and Hemlock Street instead. Northbound buses go straight onto Jamaica from Crescent. Then it makes a right on Cypress Hills Street and a left on Cooper Avenue. Northbound buses run to Myrtle Avenue via 62nd Street, while southbound buses head back via 61st Street. Next, it makes a right onto Fresh Pond Road. Then, they head to Forest Avenue via Putnam Avenue and straight onto Gates Avenue northbound or via Grandview and 67th Avenues southbound. It continues until the Myrtle-Wyckoff Avenues station, making a right on Wyckoff Avenue and then a right on DeKalb Avenue, where it terminates. Buses then deadhead via Saint Nicholas Avenue and Hart Street to begin southbound service.

History

The B13 route began on October 25, 1921 under the operation of Independent Buses. It was then operated by the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation years later, before it was sold to the City on June 1, 1940. The original route was between the Cypress Hills station and Seaview Avenue. It was merged with the first B19 route on May 1, 1938, then extended to Ridgewood Terminal around 1947.

Until September 8, 2002, there was a bus route called the B18 which ran between the Cypress Hills station and Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg via Cypress Avenue, Wyckoff Avenue, Morgan Avenue and Grand Street. The two routes merged into an extension of the B13, with service on Cypress Avenue discontinued and southbound service on Linden Street rerouted to Gates Avenue. It was also rerouted to Flushing and Bushwick Avenues in Bushwick, and from Crescent Street to Eldert Lane in East New York, matching the B15 and B20 buses serving the Postal Facility. It was then extended to Gateway Mall in April 2003, six months after the mall opened.

On June 27, 2010, the B13 was cut back on its northern end to Wyckoff Heights Hospital in Bushwick due to a budget crisis. The original plan was to retain the B13’s pre-2002 service, but there was opposition about lack of service to the hospital, resulting in a slight re-extension. There was also a time when late night service from Gateway Mall was cut back to Putnam Avenue except on Sundays. On August 31, 2014, the B13 was extended further into Gateway Mall to the “North” side due to its opening. The B13 was based out of the Grand Avenue Depot until January 6, 2019, when it moved to the Fresh Pond Depot.

On December 1, 2022, the MTA released a draft redesign of the Brooklyn bus network. As part of the redesign, the B13 would gain northbound service to Shirley Chisholm State Park via Seaview and Fountain Avenues, and it would no longer serve the Brooklyn General Mail Facility, using the Q8 route to/from Euclid Avenue in both directions. It would also follow a path similar to the former B18 route, but would provide direct service to the Ridgewood Reservoir, using Highland Boulevard and Vermont Place instead of Cypress Hills Street to get to Cypress Avenue. The B13 would continue to run on Gates Avenue in both directions and the Wyckoff Hospital terminal would be maintained. Closely spaced stops would also be eliminated.

References

1. "MTA Bus Time: B12". Retrieved December 28, 2024.
2. "Subway and bus ridership for 2023". mta.info. April 29, 2024. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
3. "B13's Northern Deadhead" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
4. MTA Regional Bus Operations. "B13 bus schedule".
5. "Brooklyn Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
6. "Brooklyn Bus Map: August 2001". Retrieved December 31, 2024.
7. "New York City Transit Bus Changes". mta.info. September 2002. Archived from the original on October 21, 2002. Retrieved December 29, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
8. "Brooklyn Bus Map: April 2003" (PDF). April 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2003. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
9. Aaron Short (March 20, 2010). "Lucky B13! MTA takes part of lightly used bus off scrap heap". Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
10. "Upcoming 2014 Bus Service Improvements Include New Routes, Extensions: $4.9 Million in Enhancements Planned for Routes in All Five New York City Boroughs". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. August 26, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
11. "Draft Plan: B13 Local". Retrieved December 29, 2024.