On Wednesday, the city rolled out free transportation for anyone looking to visit an inmate on Rikers Island.

"This is good. The seats are comfortable, nice and clean, it's brand-new," said one man on the bus.

NY1 was on the first bus from the Harlem location on 125th St. and 3rd Ave. Jason and Jorge were the first visitors to use the free bus service.

"This bus drops you off right in front of the building too, right? So you don't have to wait at the parking lot, you don't have to look for parking," Jorge said.

"This is the first run, we have see how this goes," he added. "Because I'm pretty sure when people find out about this, there's going to be a lot more people on this bus."

Getting to Rikers is a major hassle that could take a couple of hours. There is only one city bus that goes on to the island, and that bus runs in Queens.

"People won't go to Rikers because it takes too long or just because there's no easy way to get there," Jason said.

Community groups that checked out the service said it was long overdue.

"Sometimes it is taking the train to the bus, taking that bus to the next bus," said Iesha Sekou, the founder of advocacy group Street Corner Resources. "You get there, and your bus lets you off, and then you have to run for the other bus and it leaves you."

A second bus operates from Jay Street and Fulton Ave. in Brooklyn.

The city says it hopes the free service will make it convenient for visitors. This is yet another move by the Bill de Blasio Administration in overhauling the criminal justice system.

Correction officials say it's not rewarding inmates but rather encouraging them to turn their lives around. And visits are important.

"Communication that inmates have with their families during this time of separation is crucial," Correction Department Chief Hazel Jennings said. "What we have found is that it helps improve misconduct and the incidents go down, and they are getting ready to go back out in the community, and it reduces recidivism."

The correction department said it will expand the bus service to Rikers Island in the very near future. It plans to have three buses coming from Harlem and anther three buses from downtown Brooklyn.

At that point, 900 visitors should be able to use the bus daily, with a projected cost of $1.6 million a year.