Public transportation in New York
Suffolk County Transit is the provider of bus services in Suffolk County, New York, on Long Island and is an agency of the Suffolk County government. It was founded in 1980 as a county-run oversight and funding agency for a group of private contract operators which had previously provided such services on their own. While the physical maintenance and operation of the buses continue to be provided by these providers, other matters ranging from bus purchases to route and schedule planning to fare rules are set by Suffolk Transit itself.
Though serving the entirety of Suffolk County, the one exception is in Huntington, located in the northwestern part of the county, where that town's private operator declined to join Suffolk Transit. Instead, Huntington took over that town's system which became Huntington Area Rapid Transit, or HART. Most of HART's routes do connect to both Suffolk Transit and Nassau Inter-County Express and one can transfer between HART and Suffolk Transit fairly easily.[2] In addition, the village of Patchogue previously had its own local bus service, but discontinued it[3]
History
Suffolk County Transit began as the consolidation of numerous private bus companies, many of which became contractors for the county. These included the Bornscheuer Bus Company which served Amityville, Copiague, Lindenhurst, West Babylon, and Babylon. Affiliated company EBT, Inc. (an affiliate of School Bus Company Educational Bus Transportation, Incorporated), continues in existence under contract with Suffolk County Transit.
In Central Suffolk, the East Patchogue-based Louis A. Fuoco Bus Line (1962-1992) served Patchogue, East Patchogue, Hagerman, Bellport, South Haven, Mastic, Mastic Beach, Port Jefferson, Medford, Coram, Ridge, Calverton, and Riverhead. Continued to exist during early years of Suffolk County Transit. Also, Coram Bus Service (1958-1992) primarily operated school buses, but also began serving mass transit routes in the Town of Brookhaven towards locations as far west as Commack and East Northport, and as far east as Riverhead.
On the North Shore, Huntington Coach Corporation (1927–present)[4] served Huntington, Farmingdale, Melville, and Halesite. Quinn's Bus Lines, and later Coram Bus Service after the two were merged in 1969,[5] mainly served the area between Port Jefferson and Wading River; especially after the demise of the Wading River Extension of the Port Jefferson Branch.[6]
In the western Town of Islip, Suffolk Bus Corporation (1946–present), which served Bay Shore, Brentwood, West Brentwood, Central Islip, Islip, and Babylon, continues in existence under contract with Suffolk County Transit.[7]
On the east end, Sunrise Coach Lines (1946–present), which served Greenport, Riverhead, Southampton, Sag Harbor, and Easthampton, began operations in 1946, continued in existence under contract with joint venture Twin Forks Transit for the routes they originally operated for Suffolk County Transit. In 2006 Sunrise Coaches EXPRESS Routes were bought by Hampton Jitney.[8]
As of 10/29/23, the Twin Forks Joint Venture has been discontinued as it is no longer needed due to the discontinuation of the S92, which was co-operated by Sunrise and Hampton Jitney
Utility Lines, a Bee Line Incorporated subsidiary, ran from Patchogue along Montauk Highway into Merrick Road in Nassau County. This line was merged into the Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority in 1973, but funding and service disputes lead to the splitting of that route between the N19 west of Babylon and S40 east of Babylon.
Inter-County Motor Coach Incorporated,[9] which is still based in the Village of Babylon has been operating since 1922. Affiliated companies included Babylon Transit[10] operating from 1937 until around 1986,[11] and Lindenhurst Bus Company, which operated from 1952 to 1986,[12] both companies running in their final years under contract with Suffolk County Transit.
Alert Coach, an affiliate of Baumann & Sons Buses, Incorporated, and Acme Bus Corporation began on November 30, 1966, and had at least four lines within the county, which included a troubled history with the Suffolk portion of the old Utility Lines bus.[13]
During his tenure as Suffolk County executive, Steve Levy proposed a takeover of Suffolk County Transit by the MTA.[14]
In 2011, the Suffolk County Legislature authorized a fare hike from $1.50 to $2.00 on the S92 and 10C routes only. In return, service on those two routes was expanded to Sunday during the summer months. The fare hike took place on June 17, 2011, with Sunday service operating from July until September.[15][16]
In 2023, Suffolk County Transit released their redesign plan for routes. This redesign was supposed to go into effect on October 1, 2023, but was postponed until October 29, 2023.[17] Because of this, NICE bus made a change to weekend service on the n71 bus route in September 2023 to provide a connection to the timed transfer point at Amityville from the Sunrise Mall in Nassau County, where both the n71 and S20 (now route 2) previously terminated.
As of October 29, 2023, the New Suffolk County Transit Redesign has taken effect, with the new routes outlined below and new maps and schedules posted on the website at sctbus.org, with all routes no longer being designated with an "S".
Fare
The current Suffolk County Transit base fare for most one-way local bus travel is $2.25.[18] For seniors, veterans and the disabled, the base fare is $0.75; personal care attendants (PCA) may ride for free when traveling with seniors or the disabled. Students with school-issued identification pay a reduced fare of $1.25. Undergraduate students of Stony Brook University (which prepays for the rides at the start of the school year so that it does not have to run its own buses) may ride to Smith Haven Mall on route 51 for free, with a valid SBU ID, on weekends. Children under five years of age are free, with a limit of three children for every paying adult.
Fare payment is conducted with Suffolk Transit bus tokens, coins or paper currency, or via the FastFare app. If excess fare is paid, a paper card is issued with the difference in balance. Bus transfers cost an additional $0.25, and must be requested and paid for upon boarding the bus. These transfers are valid for two hours after issue and can be used on Suffolk County Transit connecting routes, or to Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) connecting routes with a special transfer request slip (transfers to NICE require payment of a "step-up" fare). You can use transfers from MTA NYC Bus, NICE Bus, HART, other Long Island/NYC area bus companies. Metro Cards are also allowed with dispatch notice.[18]
Bus service hours
Suffolk Transit bus service operates seven days a week. All routes run Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturdays 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. with a few exceptions on weekdays where some routes start around 5 a.m. and others end service right before 12 midnight.
On weekdays, routes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 17, 51, 52 (between Central Islip and Selden, and at the Gordon Heights terminus), and 66 operate every 30 minutes on weekdays until 6 p.m., with route 17 until 7 p.m., and route 1 until 8 p.m. When both are running, route 77 (regular daily service), combined with the 77Y (weekday peak hours) operate alternately every 30 minutes between Patchogue and Sunshine Square. Past Sunshine Square, there is 60 minute service on both the 77 and the 77Y. Routes 3, 10, 53, 55, 58, 62, 80, and 92 operate every 60 minutes on weekdays at all times. Routes 10B and 10C run every 90–120 minutes. Route 110 operates in directional 60-minute peak service only, and routes 52A/B run every 60 minutes on weekdays between Selden and Gordon Heights.
On weekends and holidays, all routes operate every 60 minutes.
Routes 52B, 77Y, 10B and 110 operate weekdays only.
Bus Routes 77Y and 110 operate during peak hours only.
SCT now runs on all 365 days of the year, including holidays.
Bus route assignments
Rather than operate its services in-house like most transit agencies, Suffolk County Transit contracts all their routes to private contractors. The table below lists the private contractors hired to provide fixed-route services. It does not include Suffolk County Accessible Transportation paratransit service, which is solely operated by Suffolk Bus Corporation.
The assignments in this table are as of October 29, 2023.
| Company
|
Routes
|
| Suffolk Bus Corporation[19]
|
2, 11, 15 (Summer only), 17, 51, 52A, 52B, 53, 55, 58, 62, 66, 77, 77Y, 110
|
| EBT Inc.[20]
|
1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12
|
| Sunrise Coach Lines Inc.
|
80, 92
|
| Hampton Jitney
|
10B, 10C, Southampton-Sag Harbor On-Demand Zone
|
Note: EBT Inc. is the operator of Suffolk County Transit Buses, EBT Inc. is the sister company of Educational Bus Transportation (a school bus company).
Note: As of 10/29/23, Twin Forks Transit has been split into separate operations by Sunrise Coach Lines and Hampton Jitney, as route 92 is no longer co-operated by Sunrise and Hampton Jitney.
