MTA LONG ISLAND BUS

'''MTA Long Island Bus''' (properly, the 'Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority' ('MSBA')) is the name of the subdivision of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority that provides bus service throughout Nassau County and some stops along the western border of Suffolk County and the eastern border of Queens in New York City.

History

Founded in 1973 under the name Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority by the combination of ten privately-chartered bus companies, including Bee-Line, Inc. (founded 1922) and its subsidiaries, Rockville Centre Bus Corp. (started 1927) Utilities Lines, Inc, (started 1926, under Bee Line since 1952), and Stage Coach Lines; Schenck Transportation Co (originally a Great Neck livery stable), Jerusalem Ave Bus Line, Hempstead Bus Corp (started 1926), Roosevelt Bus Line, Branch Bus Corp (started 1949), and Hendrickson Bus Corp. (started 1949, its only route from Glen Cove to Oyster Bay has been abandoned, but the name Hendrickson survives today as a charter carrier) Earlier, Semke Bus Line had been absorbed into Hempstead Bus Corp in 1970, Nassau Bus Line and Universal Auto Bus (organized 1921) had been acquired by Schenck in the 1960's, Checker Bus Corp had been reformulated into Stage Coach Lines in the 1960's. Star Bus became Mid-Island Transit in 1966, and then became part of Stage Coach Lines. The system now consists of 417 buses running 54 routes covering 995 miles (1,601 km).
According to MTA figures in 2005, an average of 104,750 weekday riders use Long Island Bus to commute around Nassau County and parts of western Suffolk county. Many continue their trip into New York City by utilizing the system's five connections to the New York City Transit subway system or the 46 connections to the MTA Long Island Rail Road. Since 1998, with the use of MetroCards, transfers are free between NYCT and Long Island Bus.
The bus system serves seven major shopping malls in Nassau and western Suffolk (including Green Acres Shopping Mall in Valley Stream, Roosevelt Field Shopping Mall in Garden City, Broadway Mall in Hicksville, Sunrise Mall in Massapequa, and Walt Whitman Mall in Huntington). It also serves numerous colleges such as Nassau Community College, New York Institute of Technology (Old Westbury Campus), SUNY Old Westbury, SUNY Farmingdale (it in fact travels onto campus, and Hofstra, as well as the popular summer destination Jones Beach, theaters, parks, and government agencies.
In keeping with the MTA bus system for New York City, all bus routes carry the 'N' route designator.

Fare

The current MTA Long Island Bus base fare for one-way local and limited stop buses is US$2.00. For seniors and disable, the base fare is US$1.00. Children under 44 inches tall ride free when accompanied by an adult. There is a limit of three children per adult. Students with ID, the fare is US$1.80.
Exact fare is required when you board the bus, payable with coins only (excluding half dollar coins) and accepts all types of MetroCard. Bus transfers are US$0.25 for adults and Student with ID, and US$0.10 for Seniors and Disabled when you board a bus and pay with coins in 2 hour time limit. This transfer is granted on up to two connecting Long Island Bus route or one connecting Suffolk Transit or Huntington Area Rapid Transit (HART) buses, and is NOT granted on New York City Transit buses (Exception: The MetroCard Bus Transfer issued on these Long Island Bus routes are granted on these New York City Transit bus routes: N4 to Q3, N25 to Q46, and N26 to Q46). Transferring from bus to bus, subway to bus or bus to subway are free with MetroCard (within MTA buses or subways only). These transfers are for up to two connecting Long Island Bus routes or one connecting New York City Transit buses or subway. Note that when the 1st transfer is used on Long Island Bus and then connecting to New York City Transit, the 2nd transfer is invalidated and you must pay an additional US$2.00 (the next transfer is included at no additional charge), as per New York City Transit's transfer policy (one per payment). ^[4]

Environment

Long Island Bus' CNG fleet carries this symbol on the lower rear side of the bus to indicate that it runs on Compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel.

Long Island Bus began replacing its diesel bus fleet in 1991 with buses operating using CNG fuel.
Now, the Long Island Bus fleet is made up mostly of clean air, Orion 05.501 CNG-fueled buses. It has the largest of all natural gas-fueled bus fleets in the country and its Senator Norman J. Levy Transit Facility hosts the largest compressed natural gas refueling station on the East Coast.^[5] Combined with the efforts of the New York City Transit division of the MTA, New York City and Nassau County have the cleanest public transportation system in the United States outside of California. Some diesel buses, however, remain on property as a backup fleet and for the N53 Merrick Shuttle route, which navigates streets that an Orion 05.501 CNG bus cannot.

Bus depots

MTA Long Island Bus operates three bus depots in Nassau County, New York as follows:

Rockville Centre Depot

The 'Rockville Centre Bus Depot' is located on 50 Banks Avenue in Rockville Centre.^[6] The Rockville Centre Depot uses CNG tanks to fuel the 40 footer Orion V CNG bus fleet. The depot operates several runs on the N1, N2, N3, N4, N8, N14, N19, N25, N31, N32, N36, N37, N62, N65 and N88 normally on a weekday schedule although the depot will occasionally open on Weekends and Holidays for special occasions.

Senator Norman J. Levy Transit Facility

The 'Mitchel Field Bus Depot' or 'Senator Norman J. Levy Transit Facility' is located on 700 Commercial Avenue in Garden City.^[7] The majority of Norman J. Levy's fleet requires CNG fuel for its Orion V CNG buses and the depot is equipped with CNG gas tanks while the remainder of the depot's fleet requires Diesel fuel for its Diesel Orion V buses (only used on special occasions) and Ford Vans (only used on the N53 Merrick Shuttle). When the Rockville Centre Depot closes on weekends, Norman J. Levy operates all of the routes.

Stewart Avenue Depot

The 'Stewart Avenue Depot' is located on 947 Stewart Avenue in Garden City. Stewart Avenue manages a fleet of 25 feet accessible vehicles. The depot only operates paratransit service for the disabled, and elderly. ^[8]

Current fleet of buses

A new 2004 Orion 05.501 CNG Bus on the N6

MTA Long Island Bus runs only' Orion V 05.501 CNG' buses at this time (40 feet long, 102 inches wide), although some older diesel Canadian Ontario Bus O5 buses are in storage. All buses (including those in storage) are fully ADA compliant. Orion (as Ontario Bus Industries) has been the exclusive supplier of transit buses to Long Island Bus since the Orion V model debuted in 1989. Previous buses comprising the fleet include former New York City Transit Authority's GMC RTS-04 and New Look buses, along with Grumman-Flxible 870-B and New Look and Gillig Phantom buses. The Gillig Phantom was the last model ordered before MTA Long Island Bus began operating Orion V's exclusively.

Reserved fleet

Year	Diesel engine	Transmission	Numbers	Seats	Fleet Total	Notes
1989	Detroit Diesel 6V92TA	Allison HT	579-599	45	0	These buses were made by Ontario Bus Industries.
1991	Detroit Diesel 6V92TA	Allison HT	601-655	45	15	600-601, 606-608, 611, 614, 616-617, 625, 629, 645, 648-649, and 653 are used for LIRR shuttle bus situation. These buses were made by Ontario Bus Industries.

Active fleet

Year	CNG engine	Transmission	Numbers	Seats	Fleet Total	Notes
1996	Cummins L10G	100-105, 109-113, and 125-128 have ZF Ecomat 4HP-500 only. 115-117, 121-124, and 129-141 have Allison B400R only.	100-105, 109-113, 115-117, 119, and 121-141	45	25	106-108, 114, 118, and 120 were re-numbered to 125-130. 109, 111, 113, 115-116, 119, 122-123, 126, and 128-129 are scrapped or out of service.
1997	Cummins L10G	Allison B400R	142-245	45	103	221 has been written off after being in a major accident.
1998	Cummins L10G	Allison B400R	270-287	45	18
2000	Detroit Diesel 50G	Allison B400R	288-395	44	108	These buses have Luminator MAX 3000 signs. Some of these buses have the APC system from CleverDevices
2004	Detroit Diesel 50G (except 399) John Deere 6801 CNG (399 only)	Allison B400R	396-462	44	67	These buses have Luminator Horizon orange signs.
Active and reserve fleet grand total:					336

Routes

The Hempstead Transit Center sees service from 21 different routes.

Main articles: List of bus routes in Nassau County, New York

At bus stops in the Queens and Suffolk County, the routes are prefixed with a "N" to signify "Nassau County" to fall in line with other nomenclature used by the MTA. They also documented as such in various MTA and New York City Government media. There is only one 24 hour route, the N6 in the entire system. In addition, buses run "closed-door" in Queens, meaning that no intra-boro travel (trips begin/end in Queens) is permitted. Nevertheless, passengers living close to city limits often take the bus to the first stop across the border.

Able-Ride

Able-Ride is run by MTA Long Island Bus, it is an accessible ride bus offers curb-to-curb service to individuals with disabilities and handicapped. Able-Ride is available to Nassau county residents who are unable to use the public bus service of their destination trip. It is designed to cater and accommodate the disabilities who cannot ride public bus. Able-Ride buses are wheelchair accessible and it is a share ride service. Reservations can be made in advance. The fare is US$3.50 payable with pre-paid ticket, cash and exact change for ADA eligible rider and companions. Personal care attendants traveling with and assisting an Able-Ride customer ride is free.^[9]

References

1. http://www.mta.info/mta/network.htm
2. NTD Program filing for MTA Long Island Bus, 2005
3. http://www.mta.info/mta/network.htm#statslib
4. MTA Long Island Bus fare
5. Long Island Bus operations
6. Rockville Centre Depot location
7. Mitchel Feild Depot location
8. [1] Stewart Avenue Depot
9. Able-Ride fare information

External links

★ Metropolitan Transportation Authority - Long Island Bus Official website

★ Long Island Bus system-wide bus map (PDF file)

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