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 MTA Long Island Bus #1790 arrives at the Amityville train station on the N54. |
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| Slogan | Going Your Way |
| Parent |
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| Founded | 1973 |
| Headquarters | 700 Commercial Avenue Garden City, NY 11530-6410 |
| Locale | Nassau County, New York |
| Service area | Nassau County, New York |
| Service type | Local bus service |
| Routes | 59 |
| Hubs | 8 major bus connection, 48 LIRR stations, and 5 New York City Subway stations[1] |
| Fleet | 331, fixed-route; 87, Able Ride[2] (2007 figures) |
| Daily ridership | 108,102 (weekday, 2007)[2] |
| Fuel type | CNG (fixed-route) Diesel (Able-Ride and N53) |
| Chief executive | Joseph A. Smith |
| Web site | Long Island Bus |
Long Island Bus is the name used by MTA's Regional Bus unit for its bus service servicing primarily Nassau County. It also serves parts of western Suffolk County as well as parts of Queens. Long Island Bus is the trading name of Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority, a name which has not been used publicly since 1995, and which is now a unit of Regional Bus as noted above.
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History
What is today Long Island Bus began service in 1973 under the name Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority by the combination of 11 private operators:
- Bee-Line, Inc. (N1-N6) and subsidiaries:
- Rockville Centre Bus (N14-N17)
- Utility Lines (N19; extended to Patchogue along current S40 (Suffolk Transit) route)
- Stage Coach Lines (N71, 73-74, and earlier N70): NOTE: The N70 under Stage Coach was a loop route from Hempstead to Levittown, Bellmore, Wantagh, and back to Hempstead.
- Mid-Island Transit (N78-N81): This operator was acquired by Stage Coach, which would be acquired by Bee-Line. Also operated by this operator was a route from today's Broadway Mall to Oyster Bay.
- Schenck Transportation (N20-N27) and previously acquired:
- Nassau Bus Line (N31-N33)
- Universal Auto Bus (N57 and N58)
- Jerusalem Avenue Bus Line (N51, N54/55)They also operated the Massapequa Park loop, which operated north and south of the LIRR station. No longer operates.
- Hempstead Bus Corporation (N40/41, N45, N47-N49)
- Roosevelt Bus Line (N62)
- Branch Bus Corporation (N69; transferred to Long Beach in 1984)
In the 1980s, the N28, N46, N50, and N70 would be created (the N70 as an N72 branch, and the others from scratch). The 1990s saw the creation of a shuttle around Roosevelt Field, two shuttles designed to take customers from train stations to work sites (the N94 and N95), and a service connecting Nassau County to JFK Airport (the N91, since discontinued), with the 2000s seeing a Merrick shuttle and the N8 and N43 routes being created.
In 2007, Long Island Bus averaged over 108,000 weekday riders[2], many of which include customers connecting to other MTA services in the region. Routes under Long Island Bus are prefixed with N (the route designation is not shown on vans that operate on the N53 line). Long Island Bus today is operated as a division of MTA Regional Bus.[3]
Fare
The current fare is US$2.25 (US$1.10 for seniors and disabled customers). Students with ID receive a discount of 25¢ from the base fare. Dollar bills are not accepted on any Long Island Bus fixed-route buses. Transfers are available upon request with coins, and are included automatically with MetroCard. Transfers are valid on any other Long Island Bus, Suffolk Transit, City of Long Beach bus, or HART with the following restrictions:
- Transfers to non-MTA buses are with coins only.
- Transfers to New York City Subway, or New York City Bus or MTA Bus express service, are available with MetroCard only (express buses require additional fare).
- Transfers from non-MTA services require payment of a "step-up" fare, which is the difference between the base fares of the systems.
The Able-Ride paratransit fare is US$3.75, payable in Able-Ride tickets or exact fare.[4]
Bus depots
MTA Long Island Bus operates from three garages in Nassau County, New York as follows:
Rockville Centre Depot
The Rockville Centre Bus Depot is located on 50 Banks Avenue in Rockville Centre.[5] This garage, originally the home of Bee Line, Inc., is only used on weekdays and houses the following routes: N1, N2, N3, N4, N8, N14, N15, N31, N32, N33, N36, and N62.
Mitchel Field Depot
The Mitchel Field Depot (marked Senator Norman J. Levy Transit Facility on older buses) is located on 700 Commercial Avenue in Garden City, and is the headquarters and central garage for Long Island Bus. The garage is named after the Mitchel Air Force Base that operated there from 1918 until 1961.[5]
Stewart Avenue Depot (Able-Ride)
The Stewart Avenue Depot is located on 947 Stewart Avenue in Garden City. All Able-Ride Nassau County shared-ride ADA paratransit service is dispatched from this garage.[6]
Bus stop signage
Long Island Bus stops are signed as follows.
| Sign color | Type of service |
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| Blue |
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| Purple |
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| Black |
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| Orange |
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| White |
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Current fleet of buses
Except for the N53 line, which uses small van-based buses, Long Island Bus runs Orion CNG buses in regular route service. Older buses are of the Orion V model (as shown to the left) with an orange-and-blue stripe (the van-based buses for the N53 Merrick Shuttle and vans for Able-Ride paratransit also have this livery), with the most recent order of buses being of the Orion VII Next Generation model (as shown at the top of the page). The entire fleet of buses is owned by Nassau County.
Routes
Long Island Bus runs fixed-route service on 60 routes, servicing the towns of Hempstead, North Hempstead, and the southern part of Oyster Bay, along with parts of the cities of Long Beach and Glen Cove. Routes are designated "N" for Nassau County (although this designation is not shown on N53 buses), with service provided daily (although not all routes operate 7 days a week), and 24-hour service provided on the N6 Hempstead Turnpike route.
Long Island Bus routes operating into Queens operate express service (that is, service is not provided solely for travel within Queens) with three exceptions:
- N8: Open-door service along Hook Creek Boulevard where it runs along the New York City line.
- N24: Open-door service within Queens along Jamaica Avenue and Jericho Turnpike and Jamaica Avenue as far west as 239 Street, where one side of Jericho Turnpike/Jamaica Avenue is in New York City, but the other side of the street is in the Town of Hempstead. Eastbound drop-off begins at 225 Street, where state maintenance of Jamaica Avenue begins.
- N31, N32, and N33: Open-door service in Far Rockaway. NOTE: The N33 operates closed-door within the City of Long Beach.
References
External links
- Metropolitan Transportation Authority - Long Island Bus Official website
- Long Island Bus system-wide bus map (PDF file)
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