Bus Rapid Transit - New York City's Select Bus Service
Table of Contents:
Introduction to Bus Rapid Transit
BRT = Rights-of Way, Faster Boarding
New York City's Select Bus Service
Suburban/Urban Implementations
New York City has led the way in our region when it comes to bus rapid transit. The city's Select Bus Service features:
- Bus-only lanes that are enforced via camera. Camera enforcement is critical to the success of painted, on-street lanes, particularly on busy streets. Camera enforcement required passage of New York state legislation and was won thanks to a multi-year advocacy campaign),
- Pay-before-you-board fare collection,
- Roomier buses with multiple doors (because tickets are purchased at the bus stop, riders can get on at any door, speeding up trips).
Select Bus has been launched on Fordham Road in the Bronx, and First and Second Avenues in Manhattan. The new routes have been clear successes. Ridership on the Fordham Road route has increased 30% over the limited-stop service it replaced, and travel times have fallen about 20%; it's also received a 98% customer satisfaction rating in follow-up surveys. On First and Second Avenues, early data shows that travel times have improved by 14-19% during rush hour.
Tri-State's Veronica Vanterpool rode the Fordham Road Select Bus in 2009, as shown in this Streetfilm:
New York City is working to implement Select Bus on 34th Street in Manhattan and Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn. Future routes are envisioned across the five boroughs. Read more on NYCDOT's website.
Why Select Bus Works for New York
Expands transit to underserved areas: Select Bus is an effective way to bring faster, more reliable transit service to parts of the city which are underserved by the rail network. The need is growing. A 2011 report from the Center for an Urban Future found that commuting within and between the outer boroughs has grown much faster than commuting between the outer boroughs and Manhattan. These non-traditional commutes are often ill-served by existing transit.
Low cost, fast implementation: The city and MTA are working to expand the rail network, but Select Bus is the fastest way to improve transit in places that need it. The 2.3-mile first phase of the Second Avenue Subway has an estimated cost of nearly $5 billion, and has been studied for decades. The 9.3-mile Nostrand Avenue Select Bus route is expected to cost roughly $40 million and the entire process -- from initial study to opening -- could take in place in 5 years, according to NYCDOT and MTA documents submitted to the federal goverment as part of the funding grant application process.
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