The new Select Bus Service Bx12 bus with the blue flashing lights, teal wave and polka dot seats pulled into Nadine Evans’ bus stop on Pelham Parkway.

A transit worker showed her how to dip her MetroCard in a fare collecting machine at the bus stop, and she boarded with the receipt. After getting off on Fordham Road at the Grand Concourse, the 25-year-old Pelham Bay resident argued with her friends over the new “bus rapid transit” line.

For Evans, the ride took the same amount of time as the local Bx12 since the bus had to wait for people to pay the fare. “It’s not worth it if it doesn’t cut down on travel time,” Evans said.

The express-style Select Bus Service Bx12 line began on June 29. It replaces the Bx12 Limited and will complement the local Bx12 along a popular seven-mile stretch that travels from the Bay Plaza Shopping Center in Co-Op City (and Orchard Beach in the summer) to 207th and Broadway in Manhattan.

Transit officials expect the new bus line to be a surface version of an express subway route at a fraction of the cost, thanks to a number of boarding and travel innovations. The $10 million line is funded between Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and the city and state Departments of Transportation.

Transit officials expect the new bus line to cut travel time by 20 percent.

To speed up boarding time, riders pay the $2 fare beforehand by either dipping a MetroCard or by paying with coins (bills are not accepted) using machines at each bus stop. As part of an honor system, riders will take their fare receipt on board. Randomly placed inspectors will give a $100 penalty for riders who don’t produce a receipt upon request.

To speed up travel time, buses are equipped with radio signals that make green lights turn earlier or last longer. There are also 40 percent fewer stops and bus-only traffic lanes.

Transit officials are heralding the new bus line as an innovative way to reduce traffic congestion, air pollution and subway congestion.

“Our bus system is something like a sleeping giant,” said Elliot G. Sander, the MTA’s CEO at a press conference on June 30. “For so many years it has been in the shadows. Well, no more.”

Fordham Road is the first route to get the Select Bus Service. The MTA expects to start similar lines in other boroughs in the near future, according to its Web site.

Most riders at the Fordham Plaza stop were confused about the new fare collection system and did not know they had to ask the bus driver for a transfer. Transit workers at the stops will give assistance until July 13, said James Anyansi, a spokesman for New York City Transit.