The purpose of Select Bus Service is to save time for riders. At busy bus stops one has to wait as people dip their MetroCards and walk into the bus. With Select Bus Service riders can insert their card into a machine before the bus comes, get a receipt, and board the bus from more than one door and not have to dip their MetroCards. For much of the route there will be a lane set aside only for buses so they will not get stuck in traffic.
Let me play the devil’s advocate and anticipate some problems:
- At some stops both the Q44 and Q20A and Q20B pick up passengers. What happens if you can use either bus, and the Q20 comes first, but you have already paid your fare? You will have to pass up that bus and wait for the Q44.
- What happens at a busy stop like downtown Flushing when a Q44 pulls in and several people have to wait on line to get their receipts? Will the bus driver wait for them or pull away while they are trying to get their receipts?
- What happens when the machines at the stop run out of paper or othewise go out of service? Will the Q44 bus then be able to take fares in the traditional way?
- Guess what! – Fare inspectors are coming to Queens. They will randomly board the buses to make sure riders have paid their fare. They are borrowing something from the New Jersey Transit School of Inefficiency and Primitive Operations.