b48
Lorimer Street/Franklin/Classon Avenues
A 2018New FlyerXDE40 (9503) on the Lefferts Gardens-bound B48 at Franklin Avenue and Fulton Street
Overview
System	MTA Regional Bus Operations
Operator	New York City Transit Authority
Garage	Grand Avenue Depot
Vehicle	New FlyerXcelsior XD40 New FlyerXcelsior XDE40 New FlyerXcelsior XE40[1] OrionVII NG HEV[2]
Began service	November 6, 1884 (streetcar service) December 14, 1947 (bus service)
Route
Locale	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Communities served	Greenpoint,Williamsburg,Bedford–Stuyvesant,Crown Heights,Clinton Hill,Prospect Lefferts Gardens
Landmarks served	Brooklyn Museum of Art,Brooklyn Botanic Garden,Prospect Park
Start	Prospect Lefferts Gardens – Ocean Avenue and Flatbush Avenue /Prospect Park
Via	Classon/Franklin Avenues, Lorimer Street, Nassau Avenue
End	Greenpoint – Meeker Avenue and Gardner Avenue
Length	6.1 miles (9.8 km)
Other routes	B43 Graham/Tompkins/Throop Avenues
Service
Operates	24 hours[3]
Annual patronage	661,239 (2023)[4]
Transfers	Yes
Timetable	B48
Route map ← B47  {{{system_nav}}}  B49 →

TheB48bus route constitutes apublic transit line inBrooklyn,New York City, running along Lorimer Street, Franklin Avenue, and Classon Avenue betweenFlatbush andGreenpoint. Originally the Lorimer Streetstreetcar line, it is now a bus route operated byMTA New York City Bus.

The B48 bus route starts at Lincoln Road andFlatbush Avenue inProspect Lefferts Gardens, nearProspect Park Station. From there, buses head north on Classon Avenue and south on Franklin Avenue throughCrown Heights andBedford–Stuyvesant toFlushing Avenue. Once it reaches Flushing Avenue, the B48 turns onto Wallabout Street and Flushing Avenue and then heads north on Lorimer Street. From there, buses run along the length of Lorimer Street until Nassau Avenue. The route then shifts onto Nassau Avenue, and heads east on that street until it ends at Meeker Avenue and Stewart Avenue inGreenpoint, near theNewtown Creek.^[5]

TheGreenpoint and Lorimer Street Railroad was incorporated on November 6, 1884^[6] to operate along theNew Williamsburgh and Flatbush Railroad (Nostrand Avenue Line) from theBroadway Ferry inWilliamsburg southeast to Lorimer Street, and then north on Lorimer Street, east on Driggs Avenue, north on Manhattan Avenue, west on Meserole Avenue, north on Franklin Street, and west on Greenpoint Avenue to theGreenpoint Ferry; southbound cars would use Nassau Avenue to Lorimer Street.^[7] In addition to the NW&F, this route used the tracks of several other companies: theBrooklyn Crosstown Railroad'sCrosstown Line on Driggs Avenue and Manhattan Avenue, theBrooklyn City Rail Road'sGreenpoint Line on Franklin Street, and theBushwick Railroad'sBushwick Avenue Line on Greenpoint Avenue. Thefranchise was approved on February 26, 1885,^[8] and the line was opened by August.^[9] In July 1889 theBrooklyn City Rail Road rerouted all cars but one per day (to preserve the charter) from Meserole Avenue to Greenpoint Avenue.^[10]

Beginning May 30, 1896, the Lorimer Street Line was extended southeast from Prospect Park along theFlatbush Avenue Line and newBergen Beach Line toBergen Beach during the summer season.^[11][12]

On October 28, 1945, Lorimer Street cars were extended on both their northern and southern ends to replace discontinued service on theFranklin Avenue Line and on theNassau Avenue Line. Lorimer Street service was rerouted on its northern end to absorb theNassau Avenue Line east of Manhattan Avenue, ending at Meeker Avenue and Varick Avenue. On its southern end, service on the Franklin Avenue Line was replaced with Lorimer service rerouted to cut west on theFlushing Avenue Line, south on Franklin Avenue, west on Empire Boulevard, south on Ocean Avenue, and west on Parkside Avenue to Park Circle and Coney Island Avenue.^[13]

Buses replaced streetcars on December 14, 1947, which were then replaced with trolley buses on March 23, 1949.^[14] Buses replaced trolley buses on July 27, 1960, and service was rerouted off Flushing Avenue between Nostrand Avenue and Franklin Avenue and onto Wallabout Street and Franklin Avenue.^[15] The route now runs northbound on Classon Avenue rather than Franklin Avenue; the south end was truncated back to the east side of Prospect Park. From 2010 to 2013, it was further truncated to theFranklin Avenue station inBedford–Stuyvesant.^{[citation needed]} On January 6, 2019, the B13, B48, B57 and theB60 buses were moved from theGrand Avenue Depot inMaspeth, Queens to theFresh Pond Depot inRidgewood, Queens,^[16] but all except the B13 have since moved back to the Grand Avenue Depot on January 19, 2020.^{[citation needed]}

On December 1, 2022, theMetropolitan Transportation Authority released a draft redesign of the Brooklyn bus network.^[17][18] As part of the redesign, B69 service north of Flushing Avenue would take over the B48's route to Greenpoint, while the B48 would take over the B69's route north of Flushing Avenue.^[19][20] Closely spaced stops would also be eliminated.^[17][18] In addition, the B48 would no longer operate overnight.^[20]

• Streetcar lines in Brooklyn
• MTA Regional Bus routes
• Bus routes in Brooklyn

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