MTA Chief Joe Lhota (left), Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro (photo: Colby Hamilton)

(Staten Island, NY -- Colby Hamilton, WNYC)  Staten Island is getting a bus rapid transit -- or something like it.  New York City's brand of fast buses, which feature off-board payment and relatively few stops, is coming to the city's least populous borough.

So-called "select bus" routes already run in Manhattan and the Bronx.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says daily commuting for thousands of  Staten Island transit users could be reduced by as much as half an hour a day.

The new bus service along the S79 line on to Hylan Boulevard will make just 22 stops, down from 80 stops on the regular bus service. Approximately 4,000 daily riders use the current, non-select service along the S79 line.

“By streamlining the number of stops to 22, we’re bringing a red carpet to the borough’s busiest bus corridor,” said Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.

Bloomberg called select bus service throughout the city a “proven winner.”  MTA Chief Joe Lhota said, as a part of a recent round of service restorations, other Staten Island bus lines are being added -- and will coordinate with the ferry schedule.