Suffolk Bus Network To See 10 Changes In Redesign

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — The final redesign plan of the Suffolk County Transit bus system was unveiled Tuesday by Executive Steve Bellone.

The plan reflects a multi-year community input process and was produced as part of the county’s ongoing Reimagine Transit Initiative. The plan is intended to restructure the county’s bus network in order to provide more useful, reliable service for residents.

The redesign plan includes:

• Longer operating hours
• Full seven-day-a-week service
• Hubs at train stations
• An increase in job access for county residents by over 50 percent
• The introduction of on-demand service for the South Fork
• Retained service along S23, S62, 8A corridors
• Restored service to Brookhaven Town Hall
• Other new routes/service

The new transit system is expected to launch in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The plan's goal is to restructure transit services to offer a more effective transit system that is with the times when considering technology and trends. Another goal is to find opportunities to use new tools like on-demand transit services.

“As we strive to expand economic opportunities for residents of Suffolk, it is critical to provide a transit system that values people’s time, and gets them to more places throughout the County faster,” Bellone stated. “With longer operating hours, timed connections, and more high-frequency service, the new Suffolk Transit system will be far more useful for residents, workers, and visitors.”

Suffolk County looked to models in Houston, Columbus, Rochester, Austin, Jacksonville, and Norfolk for its proposed redesign plan. It features a significant increase in higher-frequency, more direct routes, providing service in the places where riders need it most.

The plan could help the county and small businesses economically, as well.

“Beyond boosting local downtowns, this plan has the potential to jumpstart jobs and employment in Suffolk County by providing transit solutions to business and medical parks,” said Mindy Germain, program manager at Transit Solutions.

The new system would offer timed connections at seven locations across the county to reduce wait times, strengthen connections to the LIRR, and get people to their destinations faster.

Building off the success of the Suffolk Transit On-Demand pilot microtransit service, the Final New Network would make the Southampton On-Demand Pilot permanent, while also introducing a new on-demand zone for the East Hampton/Amagansett/Montauk service area.

With the improved frequency of service and timed connections featured in the final plan, the average Suffolk resident will be able to reach 51 percent more jobs and opportunities within 60 minutes via transit when compared to the current Suffolk County Transit network, according to the county. In addition, low-income residents will have access to 60 percent more jobs, residents without cars will have access to 53 percent more jobs, and communities of color will have access to 68 percent more jobs, the county stated.

The Final Network includes key changes and additions based on public input to the Draft Network Plan. These changes include the additions of:

• Route 3 along the former S23 route from Babylon to Wyandanch to Walt Whitman Mall via Five Towns College, operating every 60 minutes all day, seven days a week
• Route 62 between Smith Haven Mall and Riverhead via NYS 25A and Sound Avenue
• The realignment and extension of Route 5 to connect Smith Haven Mall, Smithtown and Hauppauge with half-hourly service through downtown Smithtown
• Service to Brookhaven Town Hall via a branch of Route 52
• Service to Yaphank Avenue
• Route 80, providing hourly service in the area covered by the 8A.

The goal of the Reimagine Transit initiative, which began in September 2020, is funded through a New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) grant.

"As cities and counties across the country have done in recent years, in the face of declining ridership and a shifting economic landscape, it is more important than ever to ensure that the County’s resources are being put to use most efficiently to meet the County’s ridership and transit coverage goals," the county stated.

The initiative builds on Connect Long Island, which is Bellone's regional transportation and development vision plan, as well as the Suffolk County Mobility Study which evaluated and sought solutions to the county’s transit challenges.