Select Bus Service Even Worse On Weekdays

Bloomberg exits the M15 SBS on Sunday. (Edward Reed)

This past Sunday, the city rolled out select bus service on the M15 route, in which buses ideally zip along their own lanes and riders purchase tickets before getting on so as not to hold everyone up while fumbling for their MetroCards. Reviews weren't great, with people complaining about ticket machines running out of paper, buses running late, and MTA workers being generally unhelpful. And if you think that was bad, you might not want to read about what it was like on its weekday debut yesterday. It's pretty gruesome.

The trip from East Harlem to South Ferry took about 98 minutes yesterday, 27 minutes longer than the scheduled time and 10 minutes longer than regular M15 service. Most of the delays were caused by red lights and construction, but rider confusion over the new system didn't help. Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign told the Epoch Times, "There was some confusion about paying the fare, and there were a number of vehicles blocking the (bus) lane. There are three doors on the buses, and a lot of people thought they had to go through the front door because that’s what they’ve been doing their whole lives." Another man who waited 10 minutes for a bus only to have five show up at once, simply said, "This is absurd."

Bloomberg, however, took the time to yell at all those disgraceful reporters attempting to ruin the SBS with their facts. "I'm sure there's going to be confusion this morning," he said. "I'm sure you'll write a big exposé that it's a total failure, and six months from now, you will never write the story that it's the success that it's going to be." Well yes, because it's not news when things operate the way they should. (Actually, in this city, it probably should be.) But once people figure out how to use the buses, and construction stops, and people stop driving in the bus lanes, and red lights cease to exist, riders believe the SBS will be a success. "I think it's a great idea," said rider Diana Domenech. That's what they said about zeppelins.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jaya Saxena in News on October 13, 2010 3:11 PM

Comments [rss]

Ed

I'm starting to notice a pattern when people who take SBS (which is really "the M15 Limited and this time we mean it) uptown report smooth rides and getting to their destination earlier than they expected, and the people taking it downtown reporting the opposite.

I think this is because of all the traffic on Second Avenue, particularly around the Midtown Tunnel.

This could work if they actually keep the bus lanes clear, but I'm pessimistic about it working. And Second Avenue is going to be a problem, there is simply too much vehicular traffic.

Took the subway to work today, despite living literally two blocks (the short ones, not the crosstown ones) from a SBS stop. I checked the MTA's schedule, and I realized that to make this work, I would have to leave early enough that I would have more than enough time to deal with any subway delays anyway. If its still going to take an hour to get downtown, and only ten minutes faster than the regular service, what is the point?

Såkandulæredet

Good thinking. It's definitely because of the 2nd avenue Subway construction. But I think also it has a lot to do with people being thrust into trying this new system without much fanfare.

They really needed to do more of a media campaign or something and the signs on how to use the system need to be on the bus stops and not just on the machine. Hopefully people will learn the hard way how to use the new SBS system so itll stand for Select Bus System and not Short Bowel Syndrome.

John L

When i first read about this I thought it might be a good thing but then I realized that they were going through all these changes, and changes cost money, and the estimated that bus riders would get to their destination 20% quicker. 20%? Meaning that, if (and that's a big IF) this runs according to plan a one hour ride would only take 48 minutes now, so I really don't see the huge improvement. I can only imagine what this is costing us, for a very marginal improvement.

Såkandulæredet

These are just growing pains. Of course it's going to work poorly on it's first weekday. But today, I took it just now on 1st avenue 14th st. to 86th, seemed to work great. Seemed faster to me at least.

The problems are just people not knowing how to use the system. That's understandable, it's a new thing, and many people are elderly. The MTA could have done a bit more of an ad campaign advising people how to use the system, but they do have some helpful people explaining the system now.

Also the Metrocard *reader* machines really should look different than the Metrocard vending machines because it's confusing. Even Gothamist got confused when they first appeared.

crassmenagerie

Guess what? Select Bus Service means jack squat if THE BUSES DON'T COME. This morning I waited for the M15 Limited for 10 minutes. By the time it arrived, the line was so long that only half the people in line could actually get on the bus. AND the bus that arrived was already 3/4 full. If buses came as scheduled (which is every 2-3 minutes during morning rush) we wouldn't need fancy new bus paint jobs, new receipt machines, two MTA workers to explain to everyone how the bus works, a transit officer to police the buses for non-receipt holders, or use of 3 doors to board the bus. JUST PROVIDE MORE BUSES. That is ALL we needed.

Big surprise that the MTA has no money. They've been misdiagnosing problems for years, when the real, most efficient solution is SERVICE. God forbid they learn how to do that.

nicemarmot

These dedicated bus lanes are a huge clusterfuck, at least in my neighborhood. They should be called "parking for assholes and cops" because that's all they're being used for. The buses can barely use them. Yesterday I was in a cab on 2nd Ave and I got stuck behind three buses, all running together, who all kept trying to get back in the bus lane even though it was obviously pointless. Then they'd just have to get back out five seconds later when they came across Car Blocking the Bus Lane Number 1034813085601385623.