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MOBILITY50hours savedannually for eachSBS riderSPEEDING BUSES IN A THRIVING CITYIn 2007, PlaNYC gave a clearmandate to vastly improve busservice to give New Yorkers moresustainable transit options andprepare for future populationand economic growth. MayorBloomberg appointed top NYCDOTofficials who embraced his visionand had experience in transitplanning and management. NewDOT management revamped busrapid transit and instituted anextensive outreach processes toeffectively engage communitiesalong transit routes. New directorsat the MTA and at NYCTransit weresimilarly committed to improvingbus service—a strategic alliancedeveloped between the agencies.Within months, bus projectsstarted to move forward quickly.The result was NYCDOT andNYC Transit’s Select Bus Service(SBS) program, which improvesspeed, reliability, and customerexperience for bus riders. SBSuses elements of bus rapid transit(BRT), a cost–effective approachto transit service that cities aroundthe world have used to makeriding the bus more like riding railtransit. Off–board fare collection,designated bus lanes, safer, moreattractive station areas, andsignals that prioritize buses overother vehicles are combined alongeach route. Development of theservice involved unprecedentedcollaboration with the MTA NYCTransit and intense partnershipwith local community boards andcivic groups.The first Select Bus Servicestarted in 2008 along FordhamRoad in the Bronx. Since then,five other routes have launched,including 34th Street and 1stand 2nd Avenues in Manhattan,Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn,Webster Avenue in the Bronx, andHylan Boulevard in Staten Island.A seventh route, along 125thStreet in Harlem and travelling toLaGuardia, will begin in 2014.By the end of 2013, these SBSroutes will serve 215,000 busriders daily and lay the groundworkfor a more extensive five boroughbus rapid transit network.Community planning for Select Bus66Chapter 5: Better Bus Service