NYC begins second “rapid” bus line

“Red carpet” bus service

Jon Boyd, Oct 17, 10.

On Columbus Day, New York City rolled out “rapid” bus service in dedicated lanes operating the lengths of First and Second Avenues in Manhattan, according to the New York Times (via Planetizen). The expected duration of the trip between South Ferry (near the Wall Street district) and E. 125th Street in East Harlem is expected to be 75 minutes - fifteen minutes shorter than the previous service standard, says the New York Times:

Yohannes Haile, from his perch in the back row of the M15, was so impressed that he said he would consider the bus his first option for a quick trip downtown.

“Subway during rush hour? God help us all,” Mr. Haile said. “You’re pretty much in somebody’s armpit.” A cab, he said, was no use in traffic: “Even if I want to spend a bunch of money, I can’t get up or down Manhattan quickly.”

If the new M15 worked as officials promised, Mr. Haile said, “it could be a game-changer.”

The bus lanes will be in effect during morning and afternoon rush hours on weekdays. The city will begin using camera enforcement next month to issue violations to drivers who block the lanes, and next year officials hope to equip buses with signal systems that can extend green traffic lights so that the buses do not get caught at intersections.

Yet the service also depends on a well-functioning ticketing system, according to the New York Times article:

When Shaunté Miller arrived at her bus stop at 125th Street and Second Avenue, a city worker told her that the only way she could take her usual ride on the M15 limited would be to pay for her ticket at a machine on the sidewalk. Even swiping a MetroCard onboard was no longer allowed.

Unfortunately for Ms. Miller, the machine in question had run out of paper: the kiosk happily deducted the $2.25 fare but spat out no receipt. The worker said not to worry, but Ms. Miller worried. “They’re not going to believe us,” she said, fretting about the enforcement agents authorized to deliver a $100 fine. When Hannah Huber tried to board at 100th Street, the driver refused her proffered MetroCard and told her to go back and get a receipt from the sidewalk machine. “I felt guilty,” she said later. “It ended up holding up the bus. I’d rather swipe my card than do all that. I think it’s asking for more problems.”

And when Laurie Barnett tried to board with a group on the Upper East Side, the workers “took 10 minutes to explain to everyone what they were doing,” she said.

“It’s going to wreak havoc now with people not knowing,” Ms. Barnett said. “This is definitely slowing things down.”

The sidewalk transactions, in fact, are intended to speed things up. The program, known as select bus service, has been described by city transportation leaders as a creative approach to converting the city’s antiquated bus network, currently one of the slowest in the nation, into a brisk above-ground system that could rival the subway in speed and popularity.

The system’s first go-round, on Fordham Road in the Bronx, sped up buses there by 20 percent, according to the city Department of Transportation, and officials said the new features could chop about 15 minutes off the 90-minute trip from 125th Street to South Ferry on the East Side of Manhattan.

“We’re really rolling out the red carpet for bus riders,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said, referring to the terra cotta-hued bus-only lanes installed for the system, before he embarked on a test run on First Avenue on Sunday morning.

Passengers do not have to show a ticket unless asked, but officials plan a stepped-up enforcement effort this week. Transit police officers boarded the buses at random stops on Sunday, asking to see receipts, but anyone without proof of payment was handed an informational pamphlet instead of the promised $100 fine.

Although confusion reigned among many riders, much of it seemed to stem from a wariness of the unknown. “Once people understand it,” the system will work, said Stan Pearlman, a Tudor City resident who has used the M15 for nearly a decade. He said he enjoyed a similar ticketing system in Vienna, where he said the buses run beautifully.