I have missed buses while trying to get a receipt - even though i have an unlimited monthly, it is ridiculous that i have to get a receipt to get on the bus - who thought this would be a good idea? to top it off, the bus is delayed for about 10 minutes every time MTA officers check the receipts because they hold the bus at the stop to check everyone's receipt! RIDICULOUS

I want my old tokens back!! F**K Metrocard Gold!! There easy to bend and damage, with tokens I can drink all night without worrying about damaging my ride home...

"the ticket machine had run out of paper...A worker told her the bus driver wouldn't care. The driver did care...and told her to go back and get a receipt"

No! This doesn't sound like the MTA at all! Surely not!

It's a waste of paper. What are they going to do when the machines run out of paper or the machines get busted down the road. I highly doubt the mta will be making sure this continues to run "smoothly" as it does now. I predict that while there will be 3 machines, only 1 will work and it will run out of paper and no one can get on a bus because they don't have a damn ticket.

dude, try thinking about how this could actually be an improvement.. you're damming it before it's had a chance.

It's not the new procedure that is the problem. I dont care how I pay, it isn't going to help me if there's no bus at the bus stop.

I was at 14th and 1st this morning at 9:10, there was a line of people from 15th to 14th waiting for the bus. I stepped out into First Avenue and looked down. I saw no buses. I walked to work. I am lucky to have that option, I know. The bus passed me when I got to 28th Street. It was packed. I kept walking. By 34th, five other buses passed me. Each bus had less and less people on it.

From what I see, people are getting on and off the buses with no problem. The buses have their own lanes, so traffic is not a problem. The lack of buses...problem.

MTA, please spend our money on a more efficient way of dispatching buses.

I rode the SBS M15 today. The kiosk was broken. Nice. It was late, of course. It was crammed, naturally. And to top it all off, they made all local stops - because the M15 Limited was behind schedule. No kidding! That's why I chose to ride the SBS M15.

The bus schedules are flat out lies. We pay for horrendous service and conditions; I'm sick of it. Thanks for nothing Bloomberg.

Hi from London,

We've had this process for a while (machines on the street) and by the end of the first month when they don't work any longer, either the service will get withdrawn or Metrocard will be accepted (like they are here). Best of luck!

Yes, I rode the M15 SELECT yesterday with no problem, because I have a brain and can actually exist in society.. This is not a challenge but I heard all the vetching and complaining... Jesus....it's that simple...swipe you GD metro card in the machine at the bus stop..get your receipt and get on board.. Is that too hard to figure out, you morons ?? All this gets past the F====in chowder heads who hold up the bus because they don't have their cards or change ready when they board... Are you surprised you are getting on the bus ?? Get a brain.. Actually, you all need be banned from boarding the bus.. You are cretons !!! That's all...Good night..

+1

hmmm... so now the f===in chowderheads who held up the bus by not having their cards ready... will hold up the bus by not getting a receipt before they board. Any way you slice it, an idiot is still an idiot...

how will their not getting a receipt hold up the bus exactly? won't they then just get on with no receipt? or get the receipt while the bus pulls away?

New Yorkers will find an excuse to complain about anything and everything, no matter how much better it is.

They did this on the Bx12 two years ago. Average bus speeds are up 20%, and fare evasion is down. It works. The riders are not transportation planning experts. Who cares whether or not they think it will work? It does.

People with unlimited cards shouldn't have to go to the machine to get a ticket. Kind of a waste of time and little bits of paper. Whoever enforces these rules should just be able to swipe your card, see it is legit and move along.

That's the way it is with a lot of the european ones. i.e. if you have a valid metro card, then the enforcement folks can check that, and you'd need no receipt. Save paper & time, which is the point in the first place.

very true.

I live in Inwood where the Bx12 ends. They painted exclusive bus lanes for the bus, but everyone quickly ignored them and now cars are parked in them all up and down 207th St. It works OK otherwise except when the machines don't work. I've only been asked to show my receipt once in the past year or so.

I tried the new M15 yesteray. There was a reporter on the bus. I listened to her interviews. Overall, the riders thought the new system was poorly done.

What shocked me is that – even though they were paying OT to people to stand near the machines and tell people what to do – none of those people actually communicated the message to the people waiting. At every stop, the driver would turn away a crowd of people and tell them to get the paper receipt and then catch the next bus. One clever family had a child stand in the doorway so that we could not leave while they swiped their metrocards.

I left from 96th st (which has been moved to 101, requiring people to walk through all of the Second Avenue Subway construction) and got off at 14. There was a guy there who hadn’t swiped and gotten his receipt. I was a nice guy and gave him mine. It was still valid.

If people keep paying the fare at all once enforcement becomes lax, I hope that passing along your receipt to the next person to get on, or leaving it in your seat will become the standard.

It seems like a better fare collection method should be possible. Why not RFID cards and touch pads at every door? That’s what they do in China, and it works well. You swipe in and out. The system beeps to let everyone know you’ve paid.

The paper receipts are a waste of paper, contain BPA, and it’s frustrating that all of these new street-level machines can’t sell metrocards or accept cash.

What percentage of the cost of a ride is taken up by fare collection efforts? Might it actually be cheaper to just make buses free?

Passing along a receipt is fair evasion, similar or worse fine actually.

I've been all over the world in the last 18 months, and except for the requiring a receipt thing for people with unlimited metrocards, this is the standard used in most of europe and the other more developed nations. It's faster by a long shot.

"it’s frustrating that all of these new street-level machines can’t sell metrocards or accept cash."

that's a valid point you make there.