Bedford Avenue (BMT Canarsie Line)

Bedford Avenue
New York City Subway rapid transit station

Station platform
Station statistics
Address Bedford Avenue & North Seventh Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Borough Brooklyn
Locale Williamsburg
Division B (BMT)
Line BMT Canarsie Line
Services       L  (all times)
Connection
Structure Underground
Platforms 1 island platform
Tracks 2
Other information
Opened September 21, 1924; 87 years ago (September 21, 1924)
Traffic
Passengers (2010) 7.418 million[1]  9.7%
Rank 46 out of 422
Station succession
Next north First Avenue: L 
Next south Lorimer Street: L 

Bedford Avenue is a station on the BMT Canarsie Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Bedford Avenue and North Seventh Street in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg, it is served by the L train at all times. With an average of 21,149 entries each weekday in 2010 and a total of 7,418,203 that year, Bedford Avenue is the busiest subway station in Brooklyn outside of the borough's central business district, as well as the busiest station served solely by one line in Brooklyn.[1][2]

Contents

History

Bedford Avenue opened on September 21, 1924, as part of the initial segment of the underground Canarsie Line, a product of the Dual Contracts, stretching from Sixth Avenue station in Manhattan to Montrose Avenue station.

Ridership

Bedford Avenue has experienced a surge in ridership along with the recent gentrification of Williamsburg. In 2000, there were 3.783m boardings recorded at the station,[3] but after the neighborhood was re-zoned in 2005, the MTA noted even higher ridership. By 2007, ridership had increased over 50% to 5.776 million passengers from 2000.[4] In 2008, Bedford Avenue was used by more than 6 million people, making it the 53rd most-used subway station in New York City and one of the busiest in Brooklyn.[5]

Unfortunately, growing passenger numbers along the line, partly influenced by Bedford Avenue station, have made the L train one of the most overcrowded in the system, a fact that has adverse effects on both riders and the line's Straphangers Campaign rating.[6] For the first time, Bedford Avenue broke seven million entries in 2010, receiving press for its particularly high weekend passenger volume.[7] Crowding has become such an issue that politicians have called upon the MTA to "create a schedule that is more reflective of ridership patterns."[8]

Station layout

There are two entrance and exit points, both located on North Seventh Street. The western exit is at Bedford Avenue and contains a 24-hour booth, while the eastern exit is at Driggs Avenue. The B62 bus northbound connects at the former exit and southbound connects at the latter.

At platform level, Bedford Avenue utilizes a simple island platform setup with two tracks.[9] Trains to Canarsie use track Q1 with trains to Manhattan using track Q2; the Q- prefix denotes that the track is on the Canarsie Line, but this is only used by MTA officials and not by the general public. Bedford Avenue station has a brown-and-green mosaic pattern with geometric shapes and embellished "B" ornamentations.[9]

Gallery

References

  1. ^ a b "Facts and Figures: 2010 Subway Ridership". New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. http://mta.info/nyct/facts/ridership/ridership_sub_annual.htm. Retrieved 2011-05-26. 
  2. ^ "Facts and Figures: 2010 Average Weekday Subway Ridership". New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. http://mta.info/nyct/facts/ridership/ridership_sub.htm. Retrieved 2011-08-21. 
  3. ^ 1904-2006 ridership figures Metropolitan Transportation Authority Retrieved 2009-08-07
  4. ^ "2007 ridership by subway station". New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. http://www.mta.info/nyct/facts/ridership/ridership_sub_07.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-07. 
  5. ^ "2008 subway eidership". New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. http://www.mta.info/nyct/facts/ridership/ridership_sub.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-07. 
  6. ^ ‘L’ is for Likeable, Say Straphangers Brooklyn Eagle Retrieved 2009-08-07
  7. ^ Grynbaum, Michael M. (2011-07-10). "With weekends not sleepy anymore, subway faces a test". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/nyregion/with-weekends-not-sleepy-anymore-subway-faces-a-test.html?pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2011-08-22. 
  8. ^ "Squadron: "Review weekend ridership on the L, F."". New York Times. http://secondavenuesagas.com/2011/07/14/squadron-review-weekend-ridership-on-the-l-f/. Retrieved 2011-08-22. 
  9. ^ a b BMT Canarsie Line: Bedford Avenue NYCSubway Retrieved 2009-08-08

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Bedford_Avenue_(BMT_Canarsie_Line) Bedford Avenue (BMT Canarsie Line)] at Wikimedia Commons