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Select Bus Service Has Made the M60 Faster, MTA Says

By Gustavo Solis | January 14, 2015 3:01pm

HARLEM — Select Bus Service on the M60 has trimmed travel time to LaGuardia by 10 minutes, according to data released by the MTA.

Travel times from West 106th Street to the airport have been cut by 14 percent — from a little under an hour to 50 minutes. The data compared transit times from October 2013 to October 2014.

The most dramatic reduction in travel time came between Lenox and Second avenues along 125th Street, where there is a dedicated bus lane. Travel time has gotten more than 30 percent faster — from about 18 minutes down to 12 minutes.

The new data makes a “very compelling case,” adding more Select Service bus lanes west of Lenox Avenue, said City Councilman Mark Levine

“I would love that benefit for West Harlem and Central Harlem,” he said Tuesday night during a Community Board 10 meeting. “I think it’s time we have that option.”

Select Bus Service, which launched May 2014, has brought 200 new parking spots to 124th and 126th streets and nine new morning loading zones to 125th Street, said Aaron Sugiura of the DOT.

The agency also plans to install more of the new bus panels that let commuters know when the next bus will arrive in 2015. Currently there is only one on Madison Avenue, Sugiura added.

Despite the decreased times and the councilman’s enthusiasm, not all Harlem residents were in favor of Select Bus Service.

Local elected officials and community members originally objected to Select Bus Service because they claimed the city was trying to impose their will on the community instead of working with them to address concerns.

“As a wheelchair user this Select Bus Service is a flop,” said community activist Martin Baez. “It’s full of malarkey.”

Large crowds at the stops make it difficult for disabled people to get a ticket and hop on the bus. Also, with the new system, Baez has to pay twice if he is coming from his home on 135th Street and Fifth Avenue, he said. 

Baez suggested that there should be a local component to the M60.

The Bx15 and M100 both run local along 125th Street. Both buses have also experienced faster travel times, an MTA representative said.