Since the faster Select Bus Service began its New York City launch in 2008 in The Bronx with the creation of the Bx12 SBS, ridership along the now 15 routes across the city have seen 10-30% faster bus speeds, 10% increase in ridership, more reliable service, customer satisfaction of 95%, and safer streets and reduction in crashes.
Now, according to a report issued by NYC Department of Transportation in partnership with the MTA, 21 new SBS routes will be added across the city with 6 of them in The Bronx.
The six routes currently under study in The Bronx are:
- Broadway to Central Bronx (Bx9)
- Gun Hill Road (Bx28)
- University Avenue (Bx3)
- Tremont Avenue (Bx40)
- Harlem to Southern Boulevard (Bx19)
- Soundview to Washington Heights (Bx36)
According to the report, “…the existing SBS network has over 309,000 daily riders, 12% of city bus ridership. With the addition of the new proposed SBS routes, over 800,000 bus riders would be on routes with fast and reliable service, over 32% of city bus ridership.”
One thing we can agree on is that crosstown mass transit service in The Bronx is absolutely abysmal and with the Bx12 SBS and now the Bx6 SBS things are slightly better so it’s a good thing to see that these proposed routes are more focused on getting folks across our borough as fast and as efficient as possible.
The report states that implementation of the lines will begin from 2018-2019 for the first phase. No indication as to which will be the first lines to be upgraded but once we find out, we’ll keep you posted.
What are your thoughts on this? While it’s not the perfect subway system that we envisioned for The Bronx where we could go crosstown without having to take a bus, it’s something, no?
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