Help with NYC transit
 

I had not been in NYC for a few months and find bus ticket purchasing and use has changed. Here are my questions:
1. Are the machines at the bus stops to purchase only transfers? Are they at every bus stop?
2. I could use my transfer to go from the 34 W bus to a bus going south on 9th Ave. but not the 34E to a bus going north on Madison. What was different?
3. Can I still use coins to pay on the bus?
4. On my first trip, another commuter sent me to the subway to purchase a ticket...$9, which I could use for several trips. Can I refill that ticket and where?

5. I am a senior.....how do I purchase a card that offers the $1.25 price?

Thank you for any help. Other riders who said they live in the city seemed to be displeased with these changes.

Buy your tickets/passes in subway stations. If there is an attendant( few to be found), show your Medicare card to get reduced fares.

on certain bus routes where you see the fare machines on the street you are required to use the machines to pay your fare and get a receipt which you show to the driver
I am not sure whether seniors can pay on the bus on those routes, they are designed to speed up the boarding process

seniors do not have to pay the $1 fee for a new metro card if you have a metro card you can just put more money on it.. to get a senior discount on the bus you can show proper id and if you wish to pay cash its coins only

here is the rest of the info for seniors:

http://web.mta.info/nyct/fare/rfindex.htm

Thanks, just the info I need. Fedorites are the best! Amie

But if you transfer from a Select Bus to a regular bus route, your transfer is still on your Metrocard. You can't just show that receipt. If you pay cah, however, the receipt is also your transfer I believe. But that's the only time it works that way. And you may still need to request a paper transfer. You need to look thus up on the MTA web site. Or perhaps someone can tell you.

And the only way to get a senior fare Metrocard is to prove your age and get the card in person. Then you automatically pay half fare and can reload the card. Otherwise all you can do pay cash. Seniors can't just get a free Metrocard from any machine. That's not the way it works.

Doug is right. For seniors, have $1.25 ready with your Medicare card to show subway attendant.

And without a Metrocard, there's no free bus-to-subway transfer. If you're going to be in NYC for more than a week, it's probably worth it to get the reduced-fare Metrocard, but it's going to cost you time that is better spent doing other things if you aren't visiting for that long.