UPPER EAST SIDE — A new bus service aimed at cutting down commute times across the Upper East Side and Upper West Side launched on Monday.
By taking a simpler route, with stops farther apart than a typical bus route, and having passengers purchase their tickets beforehand, the city is hoping to make M86 Select Bus Service rides 15 to 20 percent faster than the regular M86, according to the MTA.
Some commuters, on Tuesday, were puzzled that they could not hop on the bus with their MetroCards but instead had to purchase a ticket before they boarded.
Upper West Side resident Beth Seelig, who had taken the M86 select service bus to an appointment on the Upper East Side, said she was frustrated and ended up taking a taxi.
"By the time I got my ticket for the bus it was gone," she said. "I'm afraid I'll have to take a taxi to get where I'm going on time. But worse things have happened in my life."
To guide the transition, eight MTA ambassadors in orange vests were on hand at various stops on the route to direct people to the ticket kiosks and tell them where to wait for the buses, an MTA rep. said.
The line, serving roughly 24,000 commuters daily, provides direct connections to twelve different bus routes, including the M15 select service bus, as well as six different subway lines including the 1, 4 ,5, 6, and C trains.
Approximately 100 people at a time can fit on the new bus versus the roughly 60-seat capacity of regular buses. It has a three to five minute wait time during rush hour and an eight minute wait time otherwise, the MTA reps said.
With a $5 million budget, the MTA and the Department of Transportation this year installed three queue jump lanes with red bus lane markings, improved signs and installed the payment kiosks, according to the MTA.
But on Tuesday, Verizon work in front of the westbound M86 bus stop at 86th Street and Lexington Avenue affected some travelers, forcing them to wait a block away instead to avoid the construction.
Frank Mazzella, the superintendent of surface transportation for the MTA, acknowledged the kinks, but noted that otherwise the service was going well.
"Second Avenue is closed because of the construction, and the westbound bus stop is over there because Verizon is digging up the road, and people have to pay for the bus over here," said Mazzella, who was standing at the eastbound bus stop at 86th and Lexington Avenue.
"That's two things making people go out of their minds. This used to be a taxi stand too and people are double parking.
"Besides all of that, it's running beautifully."
The M86 is the eighth bus route in the city to get the new service, according to the MTA. SBS also exists along 34th Street, First and Second avenues, 125th Street to LaGuardia Airport connecting Manhattan and Queens, in the Bronx, Brooklyn and on Staten Island.
Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan is to implement 20 routes citywide.
