NEW YORK—Manhattan’s new express bus, which began running this weekend, met with its first weekday rush hour morning of Tuesday, October 12. City officials and transit advocates from Straphangers and Transportation Alternatives rode the new M15 SBS (Select Bus Service) along Second Ave. to a press conference in SoHo on Houston Street. They arrived 15 minutes late.
It took the group 45 minutes to get from 68th Street and Second Ave. to E. Houston and Allen Street. The trip was supposed to take 29 minutes. The local bus takes 39 minutes on average. The limited bus, which the express replaced, took 37 minutes on average.
The M15 SBS is expected to run quicker than the limited service it replaces due to the designation of special bus lanes and machines that allow riders to swipe their metrocards before boarding and enter the bus using all three doors. The M15 line runs along Second and First Avenue—“One of the busiest routes in the nation,” according to Dan Garodnick, councilman for Manhattan’s 4th District. The route is used by over 57,000 weekday riders.
Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign attributed the 15 minute delay on Tuesday to “first day bugs.” “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.”
Advocates of the new express bus were hopeful that once riders learn how the new system works, it will run smoother and more efficiently. MTA officials will not have to spend time explaining the changes, and riders will start to use all three entrance points, making boarding quicker. “Once people realize they have a better chance for a seat, they’ll make a b-line for the back of the bus,” said Russianoff.
Transit users are not the only ones who will have to get used to the new system. Drivers will have to learn to stay out of the new bus lanes. Street cameras will be installed and will be operative by November 2010 to help enforce the rules. Drivers who violate the law by parking or driving in the bus lanes will be slapped with a $115 to $150 fine.
Riders who abuse the swipe-before-you-board honor system will also face a $100 fine. MTA workers will perform regular checks on the buses, asking random passengers to see the paper ticket printed out by the sidewalk fare payment machine.
A frustrated woman stood bewildered in front of the sidewalk machine as her bus pulled away. An MTA worker explained the new system and handed her a pamphlet with information about the M15 SBS. The woman was a little put off by the delay in her morning commute, but boarded the next bus soon enough and on was her way.
The express buses will come every 4-5 minutes during rush hour and every 7-8 minutes at other times. The uptown-bound M15 SBS will run from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., the downtown-bound will run between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. The local route will continue 24 hours as usual.
“It’ll take some getting used to,” said Patricia Hill, an administrative assistant who will be riding the new M15 SBS on her daily commute to and from work, “but I like the idea of getting a seat and being able to just run to the back of the bus.”
