Downtown Brooklyn's roadways are congested and likely to become more so given development slated for the area. Downtown Brooklyn has a dense transit network but bus circulation is threatened by roadway congestion. Careful planning is needed to ensure that surface transit is meeting current needs and we can continue to improve transit accessibility, reduce congestion and foster economic development.
The Downtown Brooklyn Surface Transit Circulation Study (DBSTCS) will evaluate existing surface transit routes in Downtown Brooklyn and the potential for new or modified services. A set of guiding principles were established for the Downtown Brooklyn Surface Transit Circulation Study through a series of internal scoping meetings with the project's steering committee, based on the committee's knowledge of the study area and issues related to surface transit within the study area. These principles were used to refine the project's scope of work and are linked to the project's goals and objectives.

• Identify existing and potential (future) unmet surface transit needs in the primary study area using data collection, survey and focus group techniques outlined in scope.
  
• Develop short term surface transit circulation improvements to existing system within the study area that do not involve intensive capital expenditures (Transportation System Management solutions) and that can be implemented upon completion of the study.
  
• Explore need for new circulator routes that complement and expand upon existing bus network.
  
• Determine ways to improve circulation, attractiveness and utility of key transit layover points, key heavily used bus corridors, interconnecting points with other modes and new development nodes.
  
• Improve connectivity between surface transit (bus) and all other transportation modes within study area.
  
• Develop consensus with stakeholders on appropriate short-term and long-term solutions for surface transit in Downtown Brooklyn.
  

The steering committee will help create performance measures for these goals as the study progresses.

Goal #1: Maximize effectiveness of the Study Area’s surface transit network to move people (Relates to Guiding Principles A, B, D and E above)
Objective: Increase quality of transit service options including:

• Reduce travel times and improve schedule reliability for customers using buses;
• Improve connections between buses and intermodal connections between buses and other modes; and
• Make bus service more comfortable and user-friendly.

Goal #2: Provide transit connectivity throughout the Study Area. (Relates to Guiding Principle C above)
Objective: Increase transit connectivity to all significant trip generators throughout the Study Area.

Goal #3: Support the economic health of the Study Area. (Relates to Guiding Principle E above)
Objective: Increase economic attractiveness of commercial- and tourism-based land uses.