B1 (New York City bus)

b1
86th Street Line (Brooklyn)
A 2013 New Flyer XD60 (4777) in Bensonhurst on the B1 to Kingsborough Community College.
Overview
System	MTA Regional Bus Operations
Operator	New York City Transit Authority
Garage	Ulmer Park Depot
Vehicle	New Flyer Xcelsior XD60 (main vehicle) New Flyer Xcelsior XD40 (supplemental service)
Began service	1894 (Streetcar Line 31) April 1919 (B1)
Ended service	August 12, 1948 (Streetcar Line 31)
Route
Locale	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Communities served	Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Gravesend, Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach
Start	Bay Ridge - 86th Street & 4th Avenue
Via	86th Street, Ocean Parkway, Brighton Beach Avenue
End	Manhattan Beach – Kingsborough Community College
Length	6.8 miles (10.9 km)
Service
Operates	24 hours
Annual patronage	3,764,062 (2023)
Transfers	Yes
Timetable	B1
Route map 87th Street / 4th Avenue  B1  86th Street / 4th Avenue 86th Street / 5th Avenue Fort Hamilton Parkway 7th Avenue 11th Avenue 12th Avenue 13th Avenue 14th Avenue 15th Avenue 16th Avenue 17th Avenue 18th Avenue 19th Avenue 20th Avenue 21st Avenue Bay Parkway 23rd Avenue 24th Avenue 25th Avenue Stillwell Avenue Avenue U Avenue V West 8th Street 86th Street / Avenue W Avenue X / Shell Road ​ West 1st Street East 1st Street East 3rd Street Avenue X / Ocean Parkway Ocean Parkway / Shore Parkway West Avenue Neptune Avenue Ocean Parkway / Ocean View Avenue Brighton Beach Avenue / Ocean Parkway Brighton 1st Place Brighton 3rd Street Brighton 6th Street ​ Coney Island Avenue Brighton 12th Street Brighton Beach Avenue / Brighton 14th Street Corbin Place / Brighton Beach Avenue Oriental Boulevard / West End Avenue Beaumont Street Dover Street Ocean Avenue Hastings Street Kensingston Street Oriental Boulevard / Mackenzie Street  B1  Legend Two-way stop One-way stop  B1  Terminal Subway connection ← S98 (Staten Island)  {{{system_nav}}}  B2 →

The 86th Street Line is a public transit line in Brooklyn, New York, running mostly along 86th Street. Originally a streetcar line, it is now the B1 86th Street bus route operated by the New York City Transit Authority.

Route description

A B1 Manhattan Beach and B68 Windsor Terrace bus stop at Brighton Beach storefront's sign at Brighton Beach Avenue & Brighton 1 Place, which contains both its English and Russian names.

The B1 begins at 4th Avenue and 87th Street in Bay Ridge and then turns right onto 86th Street. It then travels down the full length of 86th Street until McDonald Avenue, where it turns onto Avenue X. The B1 then turns right onto Ocean Parkway and continues until turning left onto Brighton Beach Avenue, sharing the street with the B68. It continues until turning right at Corbin Place and left onto Oriental Blvd. The route then continues until it ends at Kingsborough Community College.

History

Streetcar line

1906 atlas of Gravesend showing the 86th Street Line's main storage depot

The 86th Street streetcar line or Streetcar Line #31 was built by the Nassau Electric Railroad in 1894 to make more profits for the company. The company was later leased by the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation. In 1929 the company made a subsidiary company, the Brooklyn and Queens Transit Corporation, to run multiple Streetcar lines one of which was the 86th Streetcar Line. The line ran entirely on surface level except for the northern terminal where it went onto an island platform. The 86th Streetcar Line had connections to multiple lines including the Bay Ridge Line, West End Line and the Fifth Avenue Line. In 1930, new tracks were made that split from the West End Line at 24th Avenue and went onto a right of way path used by trolleys to get to the Unionville Depot and onto Crospey Avenue. The 86th Street line would then later merge back with the West End Line at the intersection of Crospey and Stillwell Avenues.

The 86th Street streetcar line closed on August 12, 1948, was replaced with bus service and demolished some time later.

Pre-1930 Stations list

Neighborhood	Station	Type	Tracks	Services	Opened	Transfers and notes
Bay Ridge
	65th Street Terminal Station	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
	Ramp down from elevated station
	67th Street	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
	Bay Ridge Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Transfer to Bay Ridge Avenue line
	4th Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
	5th Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
	72nd Street	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
	Bay Ridge Parkway	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
	77th Street	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
	80th Street	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
	83rd Street	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
	Fifth Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
	Fort Hamilton Parkway	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
Dyker Heights
	7th Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
	12th Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
	14th Avenue-86th Street	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
	Benson Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
	14th Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
Bath Beach
	15th Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
	16th Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
	17th Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
	Tracks Merge at Bay 19th Street with the West End Line
	Bay 18th Street	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Connections to the West End Line surface
	20th Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Connections to the West End Line surface
	21st Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Connections to the West End Line surface
	Bay Parkway	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Connections to the West End Line surface
	23rd Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Connections to the West End Line surface
	24th Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Connections to the West End Line surface
	25th Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Connections to the West End Line surface
	Track Splits to Unionville Depot
	Bay 41st Street	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Connections to the West End Line surface
	Bay 44th Street	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Connections to the West End Line surface
Gravesend
	28th Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Connections to the West End Line surface
	Harway Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
	Avenue Z	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
Coney Island
	Neptune Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Demolished 1948
	Stillwell Avenue	local	all	86th Street Line	1894	Connections to the West End Line surface, Sea Gate, Norton's Point and Sea Beach Line (As of 1948)

Bus line

A 2012 XD40 (4899) on the KCC-bound B1 at 4th Avenue/86th Street

Bus service in the Sheepshead Bay area was started in April 1919 by Plum Beach Auto Stage. Trolley service had not reached the area, due to its sparse population. It was one of the first bus routes in Brooklyn. Initially, the routes were lettered A, B, and C. They were feeder routes for elevated trains.

Between 1936 and around 1940, a branch of the B1 was extended from Brighton Beach Avenue and Ocean Avenue to Coney Island Hospital. Another branch of the B1 that operated from Bragg Street and Emmons Avenue and making a loop between Avenues X and Y between Coney Island Avenue and Ocean Avenue was rerouted and extended south to Coney Island Hospital.

When the B2 (later renumbered the B32) started from Avenue U to the foot of Flatbush Avenue, the prefix 1 was added to routes A, B, and C.

In 1946, the B1A and B1B branches were combined to form the B21 making a U-shaped route. The 86th Street portion and Bay Ridge Avenue portion of the B1 (west of 25th Avenue) were B34 until 1978. Service via Brighton Beach was the B21 bus until 1978. Service originally ran via the Sheepshead Bay (BMT Brighton Line) station. Service was rerouted via Brighton Beach and Coney Island Hospital in 1978, absorbing the B21 and B34. The current routing was originally proposed in the 1970s as the B86.

The western end (13th Avenue and 86th Street) was swapped with the B64 in 2010. In June 2020, the B1 was converted into an articulated bus route. Before articulation, Jackie Gleason Depot used to provide additional service to Kingsborough Community College in the A.M. rush with buses that run on compressed natural gas, as well as Flatbush Depot.

On December 1, 2022, the MTA released a draft redesign of the Brooklyn bus network. As part of the redesign, the B1 would retain its route, but closely spaced stops would be eliminated.