Last week, the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled its first express bus line: the 86th Street crosstown, running back and forth between York Avenue on the east side and Broadway on the west. There was a news conference to celebrate, at Columbus Avenue. Polly Trottenberg, the mayor’s transportation commissioner, hailed “modest investments” yielding dividends in terms of saved time for long-beleaguered riders, to which Ben Kallos, a city councilman, added that time saved translates into revenue for businesses whose taxes help pay for further transit improvements: a virtuous circle.

The route is not actually full-dress express service. It doesn’t include a dedicated, camera-policed lane all the way across town or traffic lights programmed to stay green when buses approach. There are just short segments of bus lanes that let buses jump traffic queues at strategic places. Even so, with 24,000 daily riders, 86th Street is notorious for endless lines of passengers waiting to swipe their cards. Any upgrade helps.

I gave the new bus a road test. Off-board fare kiosks, the big addition, mean that riders pick up tickets before boarding, then get on and off as subway passengers do, through all doors at once. Some first-time riders were befuddled and annoyed, but the long lines instantly evaporated. Compared with speeds in the past, buses crossed town in a New York minute.

Image The 86th Street crosstown bus promotes a quicker trip with express service. Credit... Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

Express bus service — Select Bus Service, local officials call it — is a no-brainer for underserved routes across the city. The installation of new rapid lines, however, has been anything but rapid. Mr. de Blasio and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo don’t see eye to eye on much at the moment. On this score they ought to come together, because public officials could hardly do anything more useful, transportation-wise, to improve the lives of countless working New Yorkers than getting bus service up to speed.