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

Chapter 3In May 2011, TOR raised its base farefrom $1.50 to $2.00 and eliminatedsome trips on five of its routes. However,a strip of 10 “SuperSaver” tickets costs$11.00. (The TZx base fare is $3.00, ortwo SuperSaver tickets.) Fixed schedulesare posted, but passengers can flag downa bus at any safe location along eachroute.Municipal Bus Routes in RocklandMini-Trans, which is operated by thetown of Clarkstown, has five routeswhich operate Mondays through Saturdays.The base fare is $1.50. Passengerscan flag down a bus at any safe locationalong each route. 46Spring Valley Jitney, a publicly run busservice, runs a single fixed bus route witha $1.50 base fare. Service runs Mondaythrough Saturday. 47COMMUTER BUSESNew York City acts as a hub for commuterbuses, attracting passengers fromas close as Hudson County, New Jersey,and as far as Montauk and western Pennsylvania.Commuter buses remain an alternativeto driving into the city duringrush hour. Most commuter buses operateinto the Port Authority Bus Terminal onWest 42 nd Street and the George WashingtonBridge Bus Station on West 178 thStreet, both in Manhattan. NJ Transitalso provides commuter bus service tothe Port Authority Bus Terminal and theGeorge Washington Bridge Station. Serviceis frequent, and serves destinationsthroughout New Jersey and RocklandCounty.Several commuter bus routes bypass themajor bus terminals and operate alongcity streets, especially in Lower Manhattan.The largest such presence is AcademyBus, which offers commuter busservices between Lower Manhattan andmultiple locations in New Jersey such asBurlington, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth,and Ocean counties. 48 Singleride tickets range between $14 and$21. 49 Taking advantage of federal funds,Academy Bus has increased the numberof stops it provides, expanding its abilityto serve passengers in Ocean County,New Jersey. 50 Passengers are allowed totransfer between routes at certain stops,allowing for increased mobility intoNew York. Sussex County, New Jersey,has also received federal funds to operatea local van service that connects toNJ Transit. 51 The service, which costs $1,operates between Route 515 and Route23, where customers transfer to anotherbus into New York, with two morningtrips and two evening trips.NJ Transit’s Route 120 also operatespeak-directional bus service betweenLower Manhattan and Bayonne, NewJersey, 52 and Trans-Bridge Lines operatespeak-directional service between LowerManhattan and the Bethlehem/Allentown/Eastonregion of Pennsylvania. 53In addition, Martz Trailways providesservice to the Poconos and Scranton andWilkes-Barre, PA, primarily from thePort Authority Bus Terminal. However,Martz also provides limited service toLower Manhattan central and easternMidtown, and points in between. 54In June 2011, a $183 million publicprivatepartnership, guided by the PortAuthority of New York and New Jersey,launched the rehabilitation of the GeorgeWashington Bridge Bus Station. The stationwill feature a modernized waitingarea, create a new 21-gate station, andattract major retailers to its commercialspaces.A major bus holding company, CoachUSA, operates numerous commuter busservices into New York City. Coach USAalso operates the Orange WestchesterLink (OWL) which provides bus servicebetween Orange County and WhitePlains, NY. Rockland Coaches, which isTable 3.8Bus Operators in Lower Hudson Valley: Vital Statistics as of December 31, 2012Operational Elements Westchester Bee‐Line PART (Putnam Transit)Rockland TOR& TZxClarkstown Mini‐Trans# Route Miles 831.9 NA 154 17# Routes Operated 59 4 11 5# Stations / MajorTerminals3,300+ stations;4 terminalsHail Stops 2 Hail Stops# Passenger Fleet 329 12 63 10# Paratransit Vehicles 81 12 25 0# Maintenance Fleet 0 1 0 0The Transportation System 3-19