Select Bus Service

An M60 Select Bus Service bus operates through Morningside Heights, bound for LaGuardia Airport.
Founded	2008
Locale	New York City
Service type	Limited-stop, with some bus rapid transit features
Routes	20 routes, 17 corridors (20 proposed routes)
Destinations	Bronx (3 routes) Bx6: Washington Hts. – Hunts Pt. Bx12: Inwood – Bay Plaza Bx41: The Hub – Williamsbridge Brooklyn (3 routes) B44: Williamsburg – Sheepshead Bay B46: Bedford-Stuyvesant – Kings Plaza B82: Spring Creek – Bath Beach Manhattan (9 routes) M14A: Abingdon Sq – Lower East Side M14D: Chelsea Piers – Lower East Side M15: East Harlem – South Ferry M23: Chelsea Piers – East Side M34: Javits Center – East Side M34A: PABT – Waterside Plaza M60: UWS – LGA Airpt. M79: UWS – UES M86: UWS – Yorkville Queens (4 routes) Q44: Bronx Zoo – Jamaica Q52: Elmhurst – Arverne Q53: Woodside – Rockaway Park Q70: Woodside – LaGuardia Airport Staten Island (1 route) S79: Staten Island Mall – Bay Ridge
Stations	261
Fleet	New Flyer Xcelsior XD40/XD60/XN60 New Flyer Xcelsior CHARGE XE60 Nova Bus LFS Artic (2nd Generation)
Operator	MTA Bus & MTA New York City Bus
Website	MTA website • DOT website

Select Bus Service (SBS; stylized as +selectbusservice) is a brand used by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)'s Regional Bus Operations for limited-stop bus routes with some bus rapid transit features in New York City. The first SBS route was implemented in 2008 to improve speed and reliability on long, busy corridors.

SBS routes use vehicle-segregated, camera-enforced bus lanes; sidewalk extensions for bus stops; relatively long distances between stops; vehicular turn restrictions along corridors; and next-bus travel information screens. The first route was the Bx12 along Fordham Road and the Pelham Parkway; as of July 2019^[update], the system has expanded to twenty SBS routes along seventeen corridors. Twenty more routes are proposed through 2027. In summer 2018, the MTA announced that it was considering delaying the implementation of SBS routes outside Manhattan until 2021 because of the city's upcoming bus-network redesign.

History

In 2002, Schaller Consulting conducted a study on potential bus rapid transit services in New York City.^[1][2] In 2004, the MTA in conjunction with the New York City Department of Transportation and New York State Department of Transportation, performed an initial study on bus rapid transit, with 80 corridors studied citywide.^[2][3][4]

In late 2004, the MTA identified five corridors for implementation of bus rapid transit, one in each of the five boroughs: the Fordham Road/Pelham Parkway corridor in the Bronx, First Avenue and Second Avenue in Manhattan, Merrick Boulevard in Queens, Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn, and Hylan Boulevard in Staten Island. Four bus priority corridors were identified for implementation or expansion (three in Manhattan, one in the Bronx): Madison Avenue (expansion), Fifth Avenue, 34th Street, and Webster Avenue.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} The Merrick Boulevard corridor was eventually scrapped because of community opposition related to loss of parking.^[9][10][11] The corridor is being considered again as part of the Bus Forward study in 2017.^[12]

The Select Bus Service program was unveiled to the public in March 2008.^[13][14] At the time of the announcement, the MTA and then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg had stated that implementation on other corridors was contingent on the passage of congestion pricing, which ultimately did not make it for a vote in the legislature.

Key features of bus rapid transit include dedicated lanes, alignment of lanes to reduce conflicts with other vehicles, frequent service, off-vehicle fare collection, sheltered stations, platform-level boarding, and intelligent transportation systems (ITS) features such as transit signal priority.^[15]: 99 A 2011 study by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) determined that the SBS system was best classified as "Not BRT" because it lacked many of these BRT Standard features.^[16]

Corridors

The first Select Bus Service corridor, on the Bx12 along 207th Street, Fordham Road, and Pelham Parkway, was placed into service on June 29, 2008.^[17] The next line, the M15, saw Select Service begin on October 10, 2010 after the delivery of new low-floor buses.^[18][19] The M34/M34A line was started on November 13, 2011. Initially, a 34th Street busway was planned that would require eliminating 34th Street as a through street, but it was dropped in favor of the standard SBS model.^[20]

The B44 Rogers/Bedford/Nostrand Avenues bus route, the fifth Select Bus Service corridor in the city, was implemented on November 17, 2013 after the arrival of new fare machines. The S79 Hylan Boulevard/Richmond Avenue route, initially slated to be converted to SBS in 2013, was moved up to September 2, 2012; the local equivalents of the S79 route are the S78 and S59 buses.^[21]

A sixth corridor, the second for the Bronx, began service on the Bx41 Webster Avenue route on June 30, 2013; this route was the first "Phase II" SBS route to begin service (the existing corridors plus the B44 comprise Phase I). Another Select Bus Service route on Webster Avenue, which will be extended to run between LaGuardia Airport and Fordham Plaza alongside the local Bx41 route, is proposed for later implementation.^[5][8][9]

A seventh corridor, and the third for Manhattan, the M60 125th Street–Triborough Bridge–Astoria Boulevard bus route to LaGuardia Airport, was converted to SBS on May 25, 2014; local service was replaced by other routes running alongside the route of the M60 (the M100, M101, Bx15, and Q19).^[22] An eighth Select Bus Service route was planned in the 2014–2017 Financial Plan.^[23] The eighth Select Bus Service corridor (ninth route overall), and the fourth in Manhattan, was for the M86 running on 86th Street, which was originally scheduled to start running on June 28, 2015, but pushed back to July 13, 2015; it did not include a major change in stops.^[24]

The ninth corridor, and the second for Brooklyn, is the B46 on Utica Avenue. When implemented, the local and Select Bus Service route of the B46 changed northern terminals to improve reliability. Originally planned for implementation in fall 2015, it was instituted on July 3, 2016.^[25] The tenth corridor, and the first for Queens, is the Q44 limited bus route running on East 177th Street (the Cross Bronx Expressway service road) and Main Street, which began on November 29, 2015. Selected stops in the Bronx were combined into much busier stops for faster service, and some stops in Queens have been replaced by the Q20A/B local routes. As both the Q20 branches do not enter the Bronx and the Q44 ran local late nights only, the Q44 gained 24/7 SBS service between the Bronx Zoo and Jamaica. The Q20A replaced the Q44 local in Queens late nights.^[26]

In September 2016, the eleventh corridor (twelfth route overall) and the second for Queens, the Q70, was rebranded as the "LaGuardia Link" and became a SBS route. As opposed to other SBS routes, the Q70 is wrapped in a light blue scheme with clouds and airplanes in order to encourage more people to use public transportation when using the airport. This marked MTA Bus's first SBS route, as well as the second for Queens and the eleventh overall.^[27][28] The M23, the twelfth corridor (thirteenth route) and the fifth in Manhattan, became a Select Bus Service route on November 6, 2016 with dedicated bus lanes and countdown clocks at some stops, replacing M23 local service at the cost of $1.7 million.^[28]

The M79 became an SBS route in May 2017,^[29] with the installation of bus lanes along its route.^[30] The Bx6, after the completion of bus lanes and widened sidewalks, became an SBS route in September 2017. It supplements the local service by stopping at high ridership stops. This is the third route for the Bronx.^[31] Select Bus Service along Woodhaven and Cross Bay Boulevards was implemented on the Q52 and Q53 routes in November 2017.^[32][33]

Select Bus Service along Kings Highway was implemented on the B82, which replaced the former Limited-Stop route, on October 1, 2018.^[34] The city subsequently announced that following the implementation of the B82 SBS, it would halt the implementation of Select Bus Service in the outer boroughs until 2021 as a result of budget cuts, and an upcoming redesign of the city's bus network.^[35]

A temporary M14 Select Bus Service route was proposed for implementation in early 2019, in preparation for the 14th Street Tunnel shutdown. This route would have run between Tenth Avenue and Stuyvesant Cove Ferry, with local service on the M14A and M14D. Five additional temporary routes would have been implemented for the shutdown in April 2019.^[36] However, on January 3, 2019, the shutdown plan was altered by Governor Andrew Cuomo and the proposed SBS routes were put on hold.^{[37][38][39][40]} In February 2019, the MTA announced plans to implement SBS on the M14A and M14D,^[41] and has since been implemented on July 1, 2019.^[42][43]

All current SBS corridors are enforced by cameras restricting non-buses in these lanes on weekdays where the bus lane is curbside, with the bus lanes marked by red paint. Where the bus lane is an offset lane (that is, one lane away from the curb), non-bus traffic is restricted at all times except for emergencies.^[8]

Current routes

Currently, SBS operates twenty different bus lines on seventeen different corridors.

By order of implementation, SBS was placed on the Bx12, M15, M34, M34A, S79, Bx41, B44, M60, M86, Q44, B46, Q70, M23, M79, Bx6, Q52, Q53, B82, M14A, and M14D routes.

SBS replaced nearly-identical limited-stop service on the Bx12, M15, Bx41, B44, Q44, B46, Q70, Q52, Q53, and B82 where corresponding local bus service still operates (except on the Q44, whose nighttime local variant was eliminated and replaced with the full-time SBS route, and the Q70, which had no local equivalent before the conversion). The Bx6 SBS was split from the Bx6 local, which had no limited-stop variant prior to SBS implementation on that route. The B46 SBS omitted the Broadway section of the LTD route, while the B82 SBS did not replace service along the original B82 LTD portion between Bay 37th St and Coney Island.

For the other routes, all service was converted from local to SBS, and numerous local stops were combined or omitted. The Bx12, M15, M34, M34A, S79, Bx41, B44, B46, Bx6, and Q52 routes run the whole day, while the M60, M86, Q44, Q70, M23, M79, Q53, M14A, and M14D routes run at all times. The B82 is the first and only SBS line to not run on late nights and weekends.

Bx12

The Bx12 Limited was the first route to be converted into a Select Bus Service line, the Bx12 SBS. It was placed into service in June 2008 replacing limited stop service with SBS on this line. Both Bx12 Select Bus Service and Bx12 local are based out of the Gun Hill Bus Depot. During late nights, the corridor is served by the Bx12 local service, which operates 24/7.^[44]

Station Street traveled	Direction	Connections
Manhattan
West 207th  / Isham Streets Broadway	Westbound terminus, eastbound station	NYC Bus: Bx7, Bx20 MTA Bus: BxM1 NYC Subway: train at Inwood–207th Street
Tenth Avenue West 207th Street	Bidirectional	NYC Bus: M100 NYC Subway: train at 207th Street
University Heights Bridge
The Bronx
Cedar Avenue West Fordham Road	Bidrectional	Metro-North: Hudson Line at University Heights (one block west at Major Deegan Expressway)
Sedgwick Avenue West Fordham Road [Bx12 1]		NYC Bus: Bx12 Local
University Avenue West Fordham Road		NYC Bus: Bx3, Bx12 Local
Jerome / Walton Avenues East Fordham Road		NYC Bus: Bx12 Local, Bx32 NYC Subway: train at Fordham Road
Grand Concourse / Valentine Avenue East Fordham Road		NYC Bus: Bx1, Bx2, Bx12 Local, Bx22, Bx34 Bee-Line: 62 NYC Subway: ​ trains at Fordham Road
Webster and Third Avenues Fordham Plaza / Fordham University East Fordham Road		NYC Bus: Bx9, Bx12 Local, Bx15, Bx17, Bx22, Bx41 Local, Bx41 SBS Metro-North: Harlem and New Haven lines at Fordham Bee-Line: 60, 61, 62
Southern Boulevard Bronx Zoo / Botanical Garden East Fordham Road		NYC Bus: Bx9, Bx12 Local, Bx19, Bx22 Bee-Line: 60, 61, 62
White Plains Road Pelham Parkway		MTA Bus: BxM11 NYC Bus: Bx12 Local, Bx30, Bx39 NYC Subway: ​ trains at Pelham Parkway Bee-Line: 60, 61, 62
Williamsbridge Road Pelham Parkway		NYC Bus: Bx8, Bx12 Local NYC Subway: train at Pelham Parkway
Eastchester Road Jacobi Medical Center Pelham Parkway		NYC Bus: Bx12 Local, Bx31 MTA Bus: BxM10
Stillwell Avenue Pelham Parkway		NYC Bus: Bx12 Local
Pelham Bay Park Amendola Plaza		MTA Bus: Bx23, Q50, BxM8 NYCT Bus: Bx5, Bx12 Local, Bx24, Bx29 NYC Subway: ​ trains at Pelham Bay Park Bee-Line: 45
Baychester Avenue Bay Plaza Boulevard	Eastbound
Bay Plaza Shopping Center The Mall at Bay Plaza	Eastbound terminus, westbound station	NYC Bus: Bx5 (Weekend Only), Bx25, Bx38
Co-Op City Boulevard Bay Plaza Boulevard	Westbound	NYC Bus: Bx5 (Weekend Only), Bx25, Bx38
Barrow Avenue Barrow Mall [Bx12 2]		MTA Bus: Bx23, Q50 NYC Bus: Bx5 (Weekend Only), Bx28
Bartow Avenue Gun Hill Depot Edson Avenue		NYC Bus: Bx5 (Weekend Only), Bx25, Bx26, Bx28, Bx38
Notes: ^ Sedgwick Avenue stop added in January 2009.[45] ^ Bartow Mall stop added in Spring 2009.[46]

M15

The M15 Limited became the M15 SBS on October 10, 2010, which replaced limited stop service with SBS on this line. Unlike the former Limited, the M15 SBS makes limited stops south of Houston St, and only runs between 126 Street and South Ferry. St Mark's Place and East 72nd Street were also eliminated. Originally based out of the 126th Street Bus Depot, since January 2015, M15 Select Bus Service is based out of the Mother Clara Hale Bus Depot, while the M15 local is based out of the Tuskegee Airmen Bus Depot.

M34 and M34A

The M34 SBS and M34A SBS routes began in November 2011.^[47] These are considered by the MTA as two SBS services, the M34 34th Street Crosstown and the former M16 route, which was renamed the M34A; the routes share a single corridor.^[48][49] Originally, a provision of this corridor was planned to create a special "Busway" which would have seen both the M34 and M34A SBS lines run along 34th Street in a special two-lane corridor with vehicular traffic traveling in only one direction (westbound after 6th Avenue/Broadway; eastbound after 5th Avenue).^[50]

This was eventually scrapped and replaced with curbside and offset bus lanes along 34th Street with bus bulbs at selected bus stops. The stops are listed below from west to east. Alternate M34 SBS trips began originating/terminating at Waterside Plaza with the M34A SBS in September 2017.^[51]

This service used non-articulated Orion 7 hybrid-electric buses between November 2011 and early April 2013, when they were replaced by the articulated buses found on the majority of the other SBS routes.^[52] The M34 and M34A are both based in the Michael J. Quill Bus Depot.