New York: Downtown Brooklyn

Tools: a1f1-f2c1

Strategies: divert-through-trafficcurb-friction

Fulton Street Mall in Downtown Brooklyn, New York, was established in 1974 and is among the first generation of Transit Malls in the U.S. It underwent extensive physical renovations in the 1980s, including widening sidewalks and installing new street furniture. The scheme was backed and strongly supported by the local merchant association. Together with the parallel Livingston Street, it represents the main bus access to downtown Brooklyn’s transit hub for buses coming from the southwest, including the busy transit corridors of Fulton and Flatbush. During the peak, up to 40 buses per hour use the Fulton Street Transit Mall. Deliveries are allowed on lateral streets or along the mall between 7 pm and 7 am.

As part of the Better Bus NYC DOT program, traffic patterns on the perpendicular Jay Street have been rearranged since 2020 to restrict through traffic between Livingston and Tillary to buses and trucks only, while permitting local access only from lateral streets. In 2024, the parallel Livingston Street, another major bus corridor in Downtown Brooklyn, was redesigned from an offset configuration to an edge-running one to improve pedestrian safety and reduce curb friction.

However, the general traffic arrangement in downtown Brooklyn is still dominated by alternating one-way streets, and traffic is allowed to cross the three bus corridors at every block, with an overwhelming majority of intersections controlled by traffic signals.

circulation diagram of Downtown Brooklyn
pictures
LEFT (A). Eastbound bus B38 rides along Fulton Transit Mall. RIGHT (B). Looking east, a long theory of traffic signals, one every 80-100 meters on average (280-320 feet) marks every intersection of Fulton Street, as all lateral streets are one-way through streets and no priority is given to transit traffic along the mall.
pictures of Livinsgton Street
LEFT (C). The intersection of Livingston Street and Gallatin Place, where westbound buses cross through traffic to move from the curbside lane to an offset lane during a dedicated signal phase. Standard traffic signals are used for both general traffic and buses. RIGHT (D). A simple boarding island along the curbside transit lanes on Livingston Street. The lanes are separated from general traffic with flexposts and hard plastic curbs.