Chapter 3 The Transportation System - New York Metropolitan ...

Chapter 3Table 3.6MTA NYC Bus: Vital Statistics as of December 31, 2012# Route miles Routes Operated # Stations/ stops # passenger fleet # paratransit fleet# passengers: Averageweekday usage2,895 324 15,226 5,908 2,348 2,623,766In September 2007, NYCT introducedthe peak-only S89 Limited bus routefrom Staten Island to NJ Transit’s 34 thStreet Hudson-Bergen Light Rail stationin Bayonne – the first NYCT route everto make stops in New Jersey. The serviceproved popular enough to be expandedslightly within less than a year.As part of an increased focus on employeeand rider safety, 32 MTA/NYCTannounced in late 2010 that it would beoutfitting 400 of its buses with video surveillanceequipment.MTA/NYCT began providing its customerswith real-time bus tracking, usingBrooklyn’s B63 route as a pilot, startingin February 2011. The application, calledBusTime, was a harbinger of much largerdevelopments in bus tracking. 33 By April2013, the locations of all Staten Islandand Bronx buses also became viewablein real time, along with most express busroutes and a handful of routes in Brooklyn,Manhattan and Queens.In addition to operating the subway systemand bus network, NYCT administersNew York City’s paratransit service,known as Access-A-Ride. The service isavailable to individuals deemed unableto use the public transportation system.At present individuals age 65 and overand those with a qualifying disability areeligible for a reduced-fare MetroCard,which costs $1.25 per ride (full fare is$2.50 per ride). The reduced-fare benefitsare available on all MTA New York CityTransit subways, local and MTA buses.NYCT and MTA express buses offer reducedfares during non-rush hours only,and the LIRR, and Metro-North offerreduced fares anytime except weekdayrush hours to New York City terminals.Smaller New York City Bus SystemsA handful of smaller service providersoperate other bus service within NewYork City. Atlantic Express, a bus companywhich primarily owns and operatesschool and charter buses, also operatestwo peak-period express bus routes fromsouthern Staten Island to Midtown Manhattan.34 The Roosevelt Island OperatingCorporation runs that island’s ubiquitousred buses; service operates 21 to 23hours a day and is coordinated with tramarrivals and departures. The one-way fareis 25 cents. 35Other bus services have developed mainlyto connect ethnic groups which are locatedin multiple communities. PrivateTransportation Corp. runs a single busroute that connects the Orthodox Jewishcommunities living in Borough Park andSouth Williamsburg. 36 In addition, severalprivate van companies provide serviceconnecting some of the City’s majorpopulations of Chinese immigrants:Chinatown in Manhattan, Sunset Parkin Brooklyn, and both Flushing and Elmhurstin Queens. 37There are other small New York City bussystems. For example, New York University’s(NYU) Department of PublicSafety operates three bus routes duringthe fall and spring semesters (and oneduring summers) for NYU faculty, staff,students, administrators and alumni.NYU also operates an on-demand overnightservice.The following sections discuss Long Island’sbus operations. Table 3.7 providesa statistical overview of each system.Nassau County: From MTA Long IslandBus to Nassau Inter County Express(NICE)On January 1, 2012, Nassau Countytransferred operation of its bus system,both fixed route and paratransit, fromthe MTA to Veolia Transportation Services.The system was renamed the NassauInter-County Express or NICE. Thebus service runs 48 fixed route bus linesthroughout Nassau County, and extendsservice into eastern Queens and westernSuffolk counties. MetroCard is acceptedon the fixed route system, and the basefare is $2.25. The fare for the Able-RideADA paratransit service is $3.75. NICEoperates a fleet of 298 wheelchair-accessible,Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)powered, 40-foot fixed route buses, anda fleet of 93 paratransit vehicles that areused for the Able-Ride service.NICE serves 96 communities, 47 MTALong Island Rail Road stations and fiveMTA New York City Transit (NYCT)subway stations in addition to shoppingcenters, colleges, museums, parks, theaters,and beaches, with fixed route serviceprovided seven days a week.Suffolk TransitSuffolk Transit provides bus servicethroughout Suffolk County, with serviceinto southeastern Nassau County at theSunrise Mall. Suffolk Transit does not acceptMetroCards as payment. The basefare is generally $2.00, and service doesnot run on Sundays or during major holidays,but a 2012 fare increase to $2.25for two eastern Long Island routes wasaccompanied by Sunday service on theseroutes at least through the summer. SuffolkTransit also provides Suffolk County3-16 Plan 2040: NYMTC Regional Transportation Plan