The following is a first-hand account from Tri-State associate director Veronica Vanterpool:
Yesterday morning, I rode to our Manhattan office aboard the newly launched Bx12 Select Bus Service. As a Bronx resident, I was eager to see how the three-day-old system was working and how bus riders were responding to the change. I boarded at the Bay Plaza Shopping Mall in Co-op City and got off at the last stop, 207th and Broadway.
As to be expected with any change in service, many riders were initially confused by the ticket machines. However, once instructed to insert their Metrocards–by either the helpful bus driver or the customer representatives dispatched to each of the bus shelters along the route–their apprehension eased away as a proof-of-payment ticket came out about a second later.
Most passengers still boarded through the front doors but quickly went to the back when suggested by more experienced riders or the customer representatives. In one case, a long line had formed while passengers waited for a passenger in a wheelchair to be lifted through the front doors, but it quickly dispersed when an exiting passenger told them they could board in the back and not wait.
Some work needs to be done along the bus corridor. As of yesterday, the Fordham Road corridor was the only section with clearly marked red “bus only” lanes and overhead signposts with placards indicating bus lane hours. We passed a painting crew in progress along a part of this corridor.
