Hi everyone—I just moved to a place off Nostrand near the junction and I’m trying to get my morning commute to Fulton Street figured out. I keep seeing the B44 Select Bus signs and assumed it was the faster option, but twice now I waited for the SBS while a local passed, then the local beat us to Fulton. The SBS seemed to sit at a few lights and took forever to board because everyone was confused about the rear door. Am I reading this wrong? Should I just take whichever bus comes first, or is the SBS actually faster most mornings? I don’t want to be the guy who gave up too early.

Welcome to the neighborhood. You’re not imagining it, and the shorthand “SBS = faster” breaks down badly on that section during the school drop-off window. The B44 SBS gets its time savings from wider stop spacing and all-door boarding, but between Flatbush Junction and Fulton it can lose those gains in three places: the merge from Flatbush onto Nostrand, the left-turn lanes around Empire/St. John’s, and double-parked drop-off cars blocking the right lane near PS/parochial schools. If an SBS arrives at the same time as a local, the local often skips the SBS’s longer dwell time because fewer people use the rear door correctly; on the SBS, one person holding the doors for a stroller can eat 20-30 seconds.

The practical rule I use: if you can see an SBS pulling in and you’re going past Church, take it. If a local is already there or coming within one minute, get on the local. The difference in total trip time is usually under four minutes, and the local gives you more stop coverage if something goes wrong. Also, don’t pay at the SBS machine and then wait forever out of sunk-cost logic—your fare is good for two hours as a transfer, but the real issue is time, not money.

One caveat: if you’re headed all the way to Fulton Mall, the SBS tends to recover once it clears the school zone, so look at where the local is in its cycle. If you’re going only to Fulton, the choice is mostly traffic, not the route type.

Ric has it exactly. I used to do the reverse in the evening from Fulton to the Junction and found the same pattern: the SBS would sit through the same light cycle at Atlantic or Dean while a local that had been half a block behind us pulled up alongside. A lot of riders don’t notice that the B44 local and SBS share the same travel lane for long stretches, so there’s no queue jump unless the driver hits the signal at the right phase. The SBS is not like a subway express with a separate track.

One thing I’ll add: if the SBS is short-turning or on a service change, the local can become the only reliable option. There was a stretch last fall where SBS buses were being turned at Church because of utility work, and riders waiting at the Junction had no idea until a bus showed the sign. The MTA’s in-app notices for the B44 SBS weren’t much help. If you’re at the Junction, check the digital countdown for the local too; sometimes it tells the story better than the SBS sign.

The only time I’ll wait specifically for the SBS is late evening, when the local makes every stop and the SBS is basically empty. In the morning, just take the first thing moving toward Fulton.

Thanks Ric and Otis—that makes me feel less crazy. I tried the local this morning and it felt slower because it stopped every two blocks, but I still got off at Fulton maybe two minutes before the SBS that I would have waited for. The rear-door thing is real: I didn’t realize you can board through any door on SBS if you’ve paid, and people were yelling at a guy to move out of the doorway. I used OMNY at the machine yesterday. Did I mess up my transfer this morning when I tapped on the local? It showed the fare screen but I wasn’t sure if it charged me again.

On OMNY you didn’t double pay, as long as your second tap was within two hours. OMNY automatically applies the same free bus-to-bus transfer you’d get with a Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard. The fare screen can look like a charge, but the backend counts it as a transfer. If you ever want to confirm, you can check your OMNY account online and look at the trip history; it will show a $0.00 for the second tap or a transfer entry. The same applies if you tap at an SBS pedestal and then board a local bus—use the same card/device, and don’t worry about the receipt. The receipt is proof for the SBS only, not your transfer ticket.

A quick fare nuance: if you’re riding the SBS and a fare inspector asks, your OMNY tap is tied to the card/device you used at the pedestal. Do not tap the pedestal twice or let someone else use your phone. If you tapped at the pedestal and then realize you need a local, just board the local and tap; the system figures it out.

Back to the routing: the local feeling slower is partly mental because you’re counting stops, but if it got you to Fulton at the same time, the stops are cheap when traffic is already crawling. I’d only choose SBS deliberately if I saw it at the stop with doors open or if I was going past Myrtle.

On the fare inspectors, I’ll add one quirk: sometimes the SBS pedestals on Nostrand are tapped out / frozen, especially the one by the Flatbush Junction entrance after rain. If the pedestal won’t read your card, you are technically supposed to use another machine or board through the front and show the driver? Actually MTA expects you to use the working machine, but the driver won’t always enforce it. I had a driver wave me to board when the machine was down, and I expected a summons the whole ride. Nothing happened. Still, if you can, use a different pedestal and keep the receipt if you have a MetroCard.

But the main point stands: the B44 SBS is only a time-saver over the local when it has a clear lane and long stop spacing. The stretch south of Church to the Junction has too many school and delivery conflicts for that to be reliable in the morning rush.

Okay, another thing—this morning the driver announced something about SBS stopping at the far side of Church instead of the near side, or maybe it was the local? There were cones out around the church and a bus stop sign with a paper notice taped to it. Does that mean the SBS is on a detour? I just got off at Church because I didn’t want to miss it. I’m still learning which stops are SBS versus local here; the signs are not obvious when you’re half asleep.

That’s likely the DOT/utility work around Church and Nostrand, not a permanent change. The notice taped to the pole should have the stop number and dates, but those paper signs are often gone by mid-morning. From memory, the SBS northbound stop at Church was moved to the far side of the intersection so the bus doesn’t block the crosswalk while utilities stage their equipment. The local may still use the near-side stop, which means if you board the SBS at the old spot, the driver may not stop for you.

The practical hack: when you see cones around Church, walk to the far side and look for a temporary SBS sign or a group of people with OMNY receipts in hand. If you’re not sure, board the local. It’s less confusing than running down the block after an SBS that’s already gone.

One more thing about service changes on that corridor: when there’s a short-term detour, the MTA usually posts it as a “B44 Select Bus Service stop change” alert, but the in-station/vehicle announcements lag. The paper notice Sam saw is the more useful signal. I keep a screenshot of the MTA’s bus service status page for B44 on my phone, but I’d only refresh if I see unusual cones or police tape. On a day with a detour at Church, the SBS loses the usual far-side stop convenience and may dwell longer because everyone is asking the driver where to stand.

If the detour is southbound, the local usually stays on Nostrand while SBS moves to Rogers or New York depending on the block. If you’re heading north to Fulton, the detour affects you less, but the stop change at Church still matters. You can also ask the driver when you step on—just say “are you still stopping far side at Church?” and they’ll usually nod or point.

At 7:40, I’d make a simple rule: check the bus before you cross the street. If the local is there first and has room, take it. The SBS can make up time north of Atlantic, but you’re not going far enough to care.

Just tried the “first thing moving” rule this morning. A local pulled in with no one sitting in the back and I ducked on, then watched an SBS creep past us near Fulton. I was early for once. The only downside was the local made the stop right before Fulton, and a guy with a hand truck took a while getting off the front. But still.

Thanks both. I think I was romanticizing the SBS because it sounds like an express bus. Now I know it’s the same street, same red lights.

One last thing: is the B44 local just every 8-10 minutes in the morning? The countdown screen at Junction said 9 minutes for SBS and 4 for local, but the local was late. Is that normal?

Glad it worked. The local is scheduled more frequently than SBS on paper, but “scheduled” and “what shows up” diverge on Nostrand because the buses bunch. I’ve seen three locals arrive together and then nothing for 18 minutes. The countdown clocks at the Junction are fed by the same bus-dispatch data, so if the bus is stuck on Nostrand near Kings Highway, the clock can hold at “4 minutes” and then jump to “12.” Treat it as a suggestion, not a promise.

If you have a regular 7:40 departure, I’d start keeping a simple note of which bus you take and when you actually reach Fulton. After two weeks you’ll see whether the local or SBS gives you the best worst-case time. But yes, the main lesson is: no separate right-of-way means no express guarantee.