Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Bus Rapid Transit

Graphed: How East Side Select Bus Service Cut Trip Times and Gained Riders

Ridership along the First and Second Avenue Select Bus Service route is up despite declining ridership in Manhattan overall. Image: NYCDOT/MTA.

Yesterday, we reported on the impressive gains in speed and ridership along the First and Second Avenue Select Bus Service route. Since then, NYC DOT and the MTA released their official progress report on the project. It's full of graphics that show the boost for bus riders even more clearly.

caption

Select Bus Service cut the length of a full trip down the M15 route by 12 minutes. Seven of those minutes were saved at bus stops thanks to faster, all-door boarding, while five were thanks to dedicated, camera-enforced lanes keeping buses clear of traffic.

Those improvements have attracted about 10,000 more daily riders to the SBS than the old M15 limited, while ridership on the M15 local is down about 5,000. All told, it comes out to a nine percent increase in ridership on the corridor, suggesting the SBS buses are picking up some former M15 local riders as well as thousands of New Yorkers who didn't care to wait for the old limited.

Ridership is actually down slightly on the local, but the Select Bus Service is far more popular than the limited was. Image: NYCDOT/MTA.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Lander, Labor Activists Slam Cuomo After ‘Goliath’ DoorDash Gives $1M

The donation from the the app company is seen as a way of influencing a possible future mayor to side with the tech giant.

May 14, 2025

NYPD Admits Bike Crackdown Based on ‘Community’ Vibes, Not Data

It turns out, the new strategy arose not from data, but from people complaining about e-bikes at community meetings, the NYPD finally admits.

Pain Points: Victims of Road Violence Make Annual Pilgrimage to Demand Safe Streets

“This epidemic is preventable,” a grieving dad said on his first trip to Albany as part of Families for Safe Streets. “It doesn't have to be this way.”

May 14, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines: Top of the Pops Edition

A new battery-swapping cabinet shows the way forward. Plus other news.

May 14, 2025

Police Chase Linked to Fatal Hit-and-Run in Bronx

Kelvin Mitchell a father of three, was killed by a speeding driver apparently trying to escape police.

May 14, 2025
See all posts