The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Wednesday that less expensive stop pull-cords will be re-installed on MTA buses to replace stop tape and save money.
The MTA says when a new fleet of hybrid buses was introduced last year, they came equipped with the pull-cords, which were found to be cheaper to install and repair. Riders, like 84-year-old Lydia Santos, of the Bronx, say the pull-cords bring back memories of old New York City buses."I remember when I was a kid, my mother would let me pull the string and I used to get up on the seat, and she would say, 'Go ahead, pull it,'" Santos says.
The MTA says the stop tape buzzers were much more difficult to repair. The authority estimates it will take about a decade before pull-cords are installed in all city buses.