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 [...]]]>

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.

Fordham Road, a dense shopping district, is one of the most congested areas along the route and it was refreshing to see cars backed up in Fordham Plaza while the bus cruised by in the empty bus lane. However, a few blocks ahead, our smooth sailing was interrupted by a NYCT van and two delivery vans.

I did see several police cars and officers on foot in this area; a pair had stopped a livery cab in the lane. It was difficult to determine which police were enforcing bus lane restrictions and which were on regular police patrol, but a NYCT representative indicated that nearly 100 summons for bus lane violations had been issued on Monday.

Overall, I crossed the East Bronx to the West Bronx in 48 minutes on a ride that averages 65 minutes. Time savings should increase as passengers become more familiar with the payment machine and boarding through back doors — and with vigilant enforcement of bus lanes.

“Double shelter” at Broadway & Isham St, near the west end of Bx12 route.

Earlier this month, the New York Times covered the County’s efforts to build a four-mile separated bicycle path [...]]]> Westchester County has repeatedly shown that smart transportation policy isn’t confined to cities like NYC and New Haven. Kudos to County planners for some well-deserved press recognition of their efforts on bicycle, housing, and transit issues:

Earlier this month, the New York Times covered the County’s efforts to build a four-mile separated bicycle path along Westchester Avenue, a service road for I-287. County Executive Andrew Spano said the path would produce great benefits because it would connect the “Platinum Mile” of corporate offices with Westchester’s extensive trail network. It would also help fill a gap in the East Coast Greenway. The Westchester Planning Department will apply this month for federal funds to build the path.

The Planning Department has also proposed building housing in office parks with excess parking. According to the Westchester County Business Journal, the County’s “Office Park Housing” study identified five sites along Route 119 that would be ideal for infill housing development because they have large parking lots which are mostly unused outside of business hours. It will be up to municipalities to implement the idea by crafting suitable zoning ordinances.

Finally, the county Dept. of Transportation continues to study ways to improve bus service on the Central Avenue in White Plains, Yonkers, and the Bronx (see MTR # 559 and May coverage in the Journal News). The Central Avenue Bus Rapid Transit Study has been looking at measures like traffic signal priority, dedicated bus lanes, and park-and-ride facilities. The study team will hold its second open house at 5:30pm on Monday, June 16, at the Will Library in Yonkers. (For more information click here.)

Image: From Westchester County DOT Bus Rapid Transit open house flyer.

Bx12 Select buses greeted attendees of the “Buses in the Boroughs” symposium Tuesday morning.

With spring colors and fragrance in full bloom at the New York Botanical Garden Tuesday morning, TSTC along with Transportation Alternatives, the Straphangers Campaign, and the Pratt Center for Community Development hosted a symposium on bus rapid [...]]]>

Bx12 Select buses greeted attendees of the “Buses in the Boroughs” symposium Tuesday morning.

With spring colors and fragrance in full bloom at the New York Botanical Garden Tuesday morning, TSTC along with Transportation Alternatives, the Straphangers Campaign, and the Pratt Center for Community Development hosted a symposium on bus rapid transit to showcase how this transit option has transformed major cities around the world and to preview New York’s plans for BRT throughout the five boroughs.

Walter Hook and Oscar Edmundo Diaz, both of the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy, discussed BRT systems in nearly two dozen cities around the world (both presentations are available on TSTC’s website). Hook’s presentation spanned multiple systems and highlighted some technical “dos and don’ts” for BRT providers (such as the advantages of median bus lanes, the need for multiple-door buses, how to fit BRT into narrow streets, etc.). His presentation drew on the broad and detailed knowledge of ITDP, which consults governments around the world in planning BRT systems and produces an 850-page BRT Planning Guide.

Diaz, a native of Colombia and a specialist in urban transport systems, focused on what many consider the world’s most successful BRT system, the TransMilenio of Bogota, Colombia. TransMilenio can carry up to 42,000 passengers per hour per direction and travels an average 18.1 mph, more than twice as fast as the average bus in NYC. It is top-of-the-line BRT, with pre-boarding fare collection, level boarding at platforms, and enclosed stations — a worthy transit system for a city of 7 million. Of course, the quickest way to get a sense of TransMilenio is through pictures:

Clockwise from top left: TransMilenio in dense urban areas, level boarding between bus and station platform, fare collection at turnstiles (not on the bus), interior of a TransMilenio bus.

Diaz emphasized how a well-built system can dramatically improve the lives of commuters and residents who lack transit access, and as a result, economic and social opportunity. While 21% of TransMilenio riders own cars, the system is also accessible to low-income commuters, mothers with children in tow, the handicapped, and the elderly. In surveys, the #1 reason TransMilenio riders said they liked the system was because it allowed them to spend more time with their families.

NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and NYC Transit President Howard Roberts jointly presented on NYC’s first BRT route, which will launch June 29 along the Pelham Parkway/Fordham Road corridor in the Bronx (MTR initially covered that story here). The agency heads also detailed some of the other projects in the first phase of the city’s BRT program. These included physically separated median bus lanes on Hylan Blvd. in Staten Island, a physically separated busway on 34th Street in Manhattan, and creating/extending dual bus lanes on Fifth and Madison Avenues between 23rd and 59th Streets in Manhattan. (Streetsblog has detailed coverage of the NYC initiatives here.)

A response panel of local voices discussed the potential of BRT from several different angles. Councilmember Gale A. Brewer of Manhattan, who authored a report on BRT in September 2007, saw BRT as a way to bring transit to communities quickly and at low cost. Elena Conte, representing COMMUTE!, called attention to how the lengthy and difficult commutes of low- and moderate-income residents reduce their quality of life (most NYC residents with commutes of an hour or longer make less than $35,000 a year). Straphangers Campaign staff attorney Gene Russianoff referred to an early vision of city planners to make buses a more robust transit option, underscoring the until-now neglected potential of advanced bus networks for NYC. Lisa Alvarado Sorin of the Bronx Chamber of Commerce emphasized that limited transit access hurt existing businesses and discouraged businesses from moving to the Bronx. Jeff Zupan of the Regional Plan Association said that advocates needed to keep fighting for transit funding in the wake of congestion pricing’s defeat, in order that new transit programs like BRT thrive and expand.

Indeed, several panelists referred to the huge financial hole in the MTA’s 2009-2013 Capital Plan (the gap has been estimated at anywhere between $13 to $17 billion dollars). While the MTA’s current 2005-2009 capital plan includes $21.9 million for BRT, this hardly seems enough even for the first phase of the city BRT program. The first phase was to be funded using $112 million of the $354 million NYC would have received from the federal government if congestion pricing had passed. NYCDOT Commissioner Sadik-Khan said that her agency was now applying for other federal grants.

Despite these gloomy financial realities, the day ended with a pleasant surprise – two Bx12 Select buses, which had been parked outside the venue, took attendees to the nearest subway stations. The sky-blue Select buses must have piqued the curiosity of onlookers as they made their way down the road. It’ll take hard work to ensure that NYCDOT and the MTA have the funding to make these buses a common sight.