Suffolk County Sunday Bus Ridership Triples

Since its launch in January, Sunday bus service across the East End has seen ridership increase more than 300 percent. In particular, the cross-county S92 bus route, which stretches from Orient Point on the North Fork to East Hampton, on the South Fork, has been popular with a total of 16,832 riders through June 29.

The Suffolk County Division of Transportation recently released data on the Sunday public bus service which began on January 5 as a result of a bill introduced by Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman. The service, which started off with 1,307 riders on its first day has increased its daily traffic to 3,665 riders.

A total of 78,892 Sunday bus tickets have been sold since the service’s inception. Schneiderman, the impetus behind the service expansion, was honored last month by Vision Long Island for his commitment to improving the region's public transportation. As a result of the expanded bus service, which provides a vital link between communities for residents of the East End who do not own cars, decreases harmful car emission pollution across the region, and reduces the number of cars on the busy roads, more than $2 million dollars in state and federal transportation assistance was released to Suffolk County Transit.

When Schneiderman was first elected to Suffolk County government, Sunday bus service was non-existent. He worked to secure necessary public transportation funding and bring the much need expanded service to his constituents. “Public transportation provides people with the ability to access employment, medical care, and other community resources across the county,” said Schneiderman. “I’m pleased to see the number of residents taking advantage of this service.”

The areas receiving Sunday bus service are also entitled to individualized transportation service for the physically disabled. Suffolk County Accessible Transit (SCAT) provided a peak of 125 passengers per Sunday during the first half of the year.

Schneiderman continues to look for additional ways expand Sunday bus service to areas of the county where public transportation is still not available. If you have ideas for a bus route that would provide useful transportation in your community Legislator Schneiderman would like to hear about it. Ideas for bus routes can be submitted by email to: Jay.Schneiderman@suffolkcountyny.gov