The New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA, publicly known as MTA New York City Transit as part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority) operates over 4,500 buses within the 5 boroughs of New York City daily. Service is especially frequent on heavily used routes. For Example, the M15 route which runs on First and Second Avenues runs every 2 minutes, even on Saturdays, due to a lack of a Second Avenue Subway. However, in more residental areas of New York City, i.e Staten island, service runs about every 20 minutes.

MTA Bus was created in early 2005 to take over routes from private bus operators; plans are to eventually merge the MTA New York City Transit buses (as well as MTA Long Island Bus) into MTA Bus.[1]

Recognizing a Bus

Buses are eaisly noticiable. They all have a white color with a horizantal blue band. The band (usually towards the front) has the MTA logo followed by the text: New York City Bus or MTA Bus and the bus number. Destination signs are located on the top of the front of the bus, the first window on the right side, and the route number only on the back right corner of the exterior.

However on other bus lines, the band may be a diffrent color. Nevertheless, the destination signs are located in the same place.

Services

Bus Services are divided into two categories.

1. Local and limited stop buses
2. Express buses

Local and limited stop

Local and limited stop buses provide local service within the borough. Local stop buses make all stops along a route. Limited-Stop buses however, make stops at busy transfer points, points of intrest, and at the stops closest to the routes terminus. Depending on the passenger amount, limited-stop service can run daily, in some cases past 10 pm. Some local routes travel between 2 diffrent Boroughs. An example of this is the B61 which travels between Red Hook and Long Island City. Although buses usually don't leave city limits, some routes do so, if there's a mall nearby. This is true with the Q5 which travels to Green Acers Mall in the Valley Stream section of Nassau County from Jamaica Center.

Buses are identified by putting the first letter of a borough's name followed by a number.

• Bx: Bronx Bus Routes
• B: Brooklyn Bus Routes
• M: Manhattan Bus Routes (most crosstown buses are numbered by the street they run along; i.e: M14 - 14 Street Crosstown)
• Q: Queens Bus Routes
• S: Staten Island Bus Routes

In cases where a bus travels between two boroughs, the borough where the bus travels most wins the Borough designation. The Bx15 mainly serves Third Avenue in The Bronx, but serves a smaller portion of Manhattan.

MTA Bus routes have multiple boro designations. The QBx1 is named so, because it travels between Queens and The Bronx.

Express

Express buses operate between the outer boroughs and Midtown Manhattan or Lower Manhattan. However, one express route, the x32 travels between various points in Queens to the Bronx High School of Science, one of the city's specialized High Schools. More of the express routes tend to operate during the weekday peak hours. But the popularity of the x1 bus route which runs between Staten Island and Manhattan has required it to run past 1am. Express buses run by NYCTA have an "x" designation, such as x32, while Express buses run by MTA Bus or private bus operators use the designations of each Borough in which they run, for example the BxM1 runs between The Bronx and Manhattan. there is also additional Off-Peak Express Bus service provided by MTA bus.

Fare

The fare for riding any local or limited stop bus route is $2.00 one way, no matter the distance of your journey. An express bus fare is a flat rate of $5.00 one way. Fares are payable in exact change or with a MetroCard. Only the Express Bus Plus MetroCard and Pay-Per-Ride (with at least a $5.00 balance) MetroCards works on express buses.

Cash is accepted on some MTA Bus services, namely those that used to be Liberty Lines Express.

When paying with change, you automatically recieve a Metrocard Bus Transfer. It is valid for two hours and can be used only on Local and Limited Stop buses.

Currently with some MTA bus services, a multiple fare applies. This means there is an Peak and Off Peak fare.

Bus Depots and fleet

NYCTA and MTA Bus operate a very diverse fleet of buses. All are wheelchair accessible, as required by law. Buses are run out of Depots located in various areas of the city. Each depot has it's own creative sticker.

The East New York Depot in Brooklyn is also a major maintance facility. The Zerega Avenue facility in the Bronx, serves as a depot and a registy facility for new buses.

See Bus model fleets ROSTER LIST from 1981 and Beyond used in New York City Transit for more information.

External links

• Official New York City Bus page