MTA NYC Transit Unveils Select Bus Service
Paul Fleuranges: I'm Paul Fleuranges and you're listening to an In the News podcast on TransitTrax, NYC Transit's podcast service.
(NATSOUND BUS)
Bus service in The Bronx is going "Select," with a new, faster service running along the Bx12 route. Bx12 Select Bus Service replaces limited-stop service between 207th Street and Broadway in upper Manhattan and Bay Plaza Mall in the Bronx. It's the first of what planners hope will be several similar routes throughout the city according to New York City Transit's Ted Orosz, Project Director for Select Bus Service.
Ted Orosz, Project Director, SBS: What we're trying to do is make the buses run faster, we're trying to make them run more reliably and we're trying to make them a better surface transportation option for everyone. With the innovations that we're testing on the Select Bus Service up in the Bronx, if these innovations are successful we hope to roll this out to city-wide in years to come.
Paul Fleuranges: The introduction of Select Bus Service is the culmination of a three-year collaborative effort among New York City Transit, the New York City Department of Transportation, the New York State Department of Transportation, to bring Bus Rapid Transit to New York City. Janette Sadik-Khan is Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation.
Janette Sadik-Khan, Commissioner, NYC DOT: We have to find in the 21st century a more effective way to move people around the city. We are stuck in gridlock most of the time. The peak is now almost an 18 hour period of time. And so, we have to use our streets more efficiently, and one of the best ways that we can improve mobility in the city is to invest in our transit system and provide more effective service on our bus network, so this is an important first down payment on a more sustainable New York "
Paul Fleuranges: Select Bus Service, or SBS, will feature New York City Transit's high-capacity articulated buses—freshly outfitted with a distinctive color scheme.
Janette Sadik-Khan: They have a fanciful wave type of design which obviously leads to the notion of movement. And inside it has a kind of a poppy, 1970s feel, which is more playful again with the bubbles and movement. And you can see this new iconic design not only on the outside and in the interior of the buses, but also on the bus shelters, which were designed by Cemusa and they carry that same legend on them: tying into sort of a comprehensive system. So you will know when you are on the SBS route through the iconic branding on the buses and on shelters.
Paul Fleuranges: Like other Bus Rapid Transit systems in use around the country, Select Bus Service will rely on technology known as Traffic Signal Prioritization or TSP.
Janette Sadik-Khan: Select Bus Service is really the closest thing you can do to get a subway system on the streets of NYC. The buses will be operating in high visibility lanes with Traffic Signal Prioritization that reduces the amount of time that a bus is stuck in traffic. There is a reader on the top of bus and at the signal, and when the traffic signal reads that the bus is there, it will send a signal and keep the dignal green for the bus and keep it green longer for the bus. So that way we are prioritizing the streets of New York for buses.
Paul Fleuranges. Probably the biggest change riders will have to get used is the concept of something called Off-board fare collection.
Ted Orosz: Now people will pay their fare before they get on the bus. We will have fare machines at every Select Bus Service stop There will be two machines that will accept any sort of MetroCard®: pay per ride, monthly pass, senior MetroCard, whatever. The customers will insert their MetroCard right into the machine, and they'll get a receipt, they'll hold the receipt, and when the bus comes they'll just get on the bus. If people are paying cash we're going to have one or two cash machines at every stop. People will just put their $2 fare into the machine and out will come a receipt, and again, when the bus comes they just get on it, either through the front or back door, and hold the receipt for inspection. By paying before people get on the bus, the bus will spend less time in bus stops and more time moving and it will save time for everyone.
Paul Fleuranges: Combined, these components are expected to produce as much as a 20 percent increase in rush-hour service for Bx12 SBS customers.
(NATSOUND: Bus honking, pulling away)
Bronx12 SBS connects with eight subway lines, two Metro-North stations and serves the Fordham Road Shopping District, Bronx Zoo, New York Botanical Garden, and Fordham University, as it travels through the central Bronx along Fordham Road and Pelham Parkway before winding up at Bay Plaza Mall.
Ted Orosz: Right now on Fordham Road we have the have the local buses and the limited stop buses. The local buses will continue to operate 24 hours a day. The limited stop buses will be replaced by Select Bus Service. The select buses will make somewhat fewer stops than the limited, a few fewer stops, but basically the routing is the same. There will be more buses in every hour, so the buses will be running more frequently, and right now the limited stop buses end about 7 o'clock, the select buses will be going to ten. So they're going to start earlier than the limiteds, run later. We're going to have 7 day Select Bus Service, and they'll be more buses in every hour. So the faster service alternative will be much more available to people.
Paul Fleuranges: The expected success and customer acceptance of Bx12 Select Bus Service will lead to the introduction of the enhanced bus service along other corridors throughout the city. Watch out for it.
For TransitTrax, I'm Paul Fleuranges thanks for listening and thanks for riding with New York City Transit.
Back to Transittrax Main Page
Paul Fleuranges: I'm Paul Fleuranges and you're listening to an In the News podcast on TransitTrax, NYC Transit's podcast service.
(NATSOUND BUS)
Bus service in The Bronx is going "Select," with a new, faster service running along the Bx12 route. Bx12 Select Bus Service replaces limited-stop service between 207th Street and Broadway in upper Manhattan and Bay Plaza Mall in the Bronx. It's the first of what planners hope will be several similar routes throughout the city according to New York City Transit's Ted Orosz, Project Director for Select Bus Service.
Ted Orosz, Project Director, SBS: What we're trying to do is make the buses run faster, we're trying to make them run more reliably and we're trying to make them a better surface transportation option for everyone. With the innovations that we're testing on the Select Bus Service up in the Bronx, if these innovations are successful we hope to roll this out to city-wide in years to come.
Paul Fleuranges: The introduction of Select Bus Service is the culmination of a three-year collaborative effort among New York City Transit, the New York City Department of Transportation, the New York State Department of Transportation, to bring Bus Rapid Transit to New York City. Janette Sadik-Khan is Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation.
Janette Sadik-Khan, Commissioner, NYC DOT: We have to find in the 21st century a more effective way to move people around the city. We are stuck in gridlock most of the time. The peak is now almost an 18 hour period of time. And so, we have to use our streets more efficiently, and one of the best ways that we can improve mobility in the city is to invest in our transit system and provide more effective service on our bus network, so this is an important first down payment on a more sustainable New York "
Paul Fleuranges: Select Bus Service, or SBS, will feature New York City Transit's high-capacity articulated buses—freshly outfitted with a distinctive color scheme.
Janette Sadik-Khan: They have a fanciful wave type of design which obviously leads to the notion of movement. And inside it has a kind of a poppy, 1970s feel, which is more playful again with the bubbles and movement. And you can see this new iconic design not only on the outside and in the interior of the buses, but also on the bus shelters, which were designed by Cemusa and they carry that same legend on them: tying into sort of a comprehensive system. So you will know when you are on the SBS route through the iconic branding on the buses and on shelters.
Paul Fleuranges: Like other Bus Rapid Transit systems in use around the country, Select Bus Service will rely on technology known as Traffic Signal Prioritization or TSP.
Janette Sadik-Khan: Select Bus Service is really the closest thing you can do to get a subway system on the streets of NYC. The buses will be operating in high visibility lanes with Traffic Signal Prioritization that reduces the amount of time that a bus is stuck in traffic. There is a reader on the top of bus and at the signal, and when the traffic signal reads that the bus is there, it will send a signal and keep the dignal green for the bus and keep it green longer for the bus. So that way we are prioritizing the streets of New York for buses.
Paul Fleuranges. Probably the biggest change riders will have to get used is the concept of something called Off-board fare collection.
Ted Orosz: Now people will pay their fare before they get on the bus. We will have fare machines at every Select Bus Service stop There will be two machines that will accept any sort of MetroCard®: pay per ride, monthly pass, senior MetroCard, whatever. The customers will insert their MetroCard right into the machine, and they'll get a receipt, they'll hold the receipt, and when the bus comes they'll just get on the bus. If people are paying cash we're going to have one or two cash machines at every stop. People will just put their $2 fare into the machine and out will come a receipt, and again, when the bus comes they just get on it, either through the front or back door, and hold the receipt for inspection. By paying before people get on the bus, the bus will spend less time in bus stops and more time moving and it will save time for everyone.
Paul Fleuranges: Combined, these components are expected to produce as much as a 20 percent increase in rush-hour service for Bx12 SBS customers.
(NATSOUND: Bus honking, pulling away)
Bronx12 SBS connects with eight subway lines, two Metro-North stations and serves the Fordham Road Shopping District, Bronx Zoo, New York Botanical Garden, and Fordham University, as it travels through the central Bronx along Fordham Road and Pelham Parkway before winding up at Bay Plaza Mall.
Ted Orosz: Right now on Fordham Road we have the have the local buses and the limited stop buses. The local buses will continue to operate 24 hours a day. The limited stop buses will be replaced by Select Bus Service. The select buses will make somewhat fewer stops than the limited, a few fewer stops, but basically the routing is the same. There will be more buses in every hour, so the buses will be running more frequently, and right now the limited stop buses end about 7 o'clock, the select buses will be going to ten. So they're going to start earlier than the limiteds, run later. We're going to have 7 day Select Bus Service, and they'll be more buses in every hour. So the faster service alternative will be much more available to people.
Paul Fleuranges: The expected success and customer acceptance of Bx12 Select Bus Service will lead to the introduction of the enhanced bus service along other corridors throughout the city. Watch out for it.
For TransitTrax, I'm Paul Fleuranges thanks for listening and thanks for riding with New York City Transit.
Back to Transittrax Main Page
