Improved Service Speeds Up Buses, Increases Ridership

The data on select bus service (SBS) in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus system are definitive: with off-board payment and bus-only lanes, buses perform better and attract more riders.

1 minute read

December 5, 2018, 8:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


New York Bus

Leonard Zhukovsky / Shutterstock

"Crosstown bus service on the 79th Street corridor has seen increases in speed and ridership since the introduction of select bus service last year," reports Michael Garofalo.

"The M79 bus is eight percent faster on average since the M79 SBS route launched in May 2017. M79 SBS buses spend 21 percent less time paused at bus stops and five percent less time stuck in traffic that they did in the route’s previous iteration," adds Garofalo.

Those finds come via data shared recently by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The MTA reports similar improvements on other routes after SBS implementation.

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

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