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The Westchester County Bee-Line System, branded on the buses in lowercase as ''the bee-line system'', is a bus system serving
Westchester County, New York Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...
. The system is owned by the county's Department of Public Works and Transportation.


History

The system was founded on May 1, 1978, by the then Westchester County Department of Transportation to consolidate the bus system with thirteen private bus companies and has been given control over the buses, fare structure, routes, and services. By the 1980s, the bus system had an identity problem in who was providing the service. On May 19, 1987, WCDOT officially named the bus service "The Bee-Line System" with a 'bee-in-flight' mascot drawn by cartoonist Jack Davis. The Westchester County Department of Public Works and Transportation currently contracts out to two private bus companies to provide service in Westchester County and the surrounding counties: Yonkers-based
Liberty Lines Transit, Inc. Liberty Lines Transit is the owner of local bus routes in Westchester County, New York, and operates these and other local bus routes under contract as part of the Bee-Line Bus System. It had been affiliated with Liberty Lines Express, the owner ...
, the main company that either bought out or obtained franchises from the other twelve bus companies over the years, operates buses on all but three bus routes; and
Cortlandt Manor Cortlandt Manor is a hamlet located in the Town of Cortlandt in northern Westchester County, New York, United States. Cortlandt Manor is situated directly east, north and south of Peekskill, and east of three sections of the Town of Cortlandt, ...
-based P.T.L.A. Enterprise, Inc., a small company that operates buses on routes 16, 18, and 31.


Scope of service

Most Bee-Line routes operate seven days a week. There is no service county-wide on two days of the calendar year,
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(the fourth Thursday in November), and
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
(December 25).


Within Westchester

The system's 64 routes are mostly concentrated in the more urban southern portion of the county, with the cities of Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, and Yonkers receiving a high frequency of service. White Plains, the county seat and most centrally located city, is a major transportation hub with many routes converging on the city's TransCenter. Service in the northern portion of Westchester is sparse and is concentrated near slightly populated areas such as
Mount Kisco Mount Kisco is a village and town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The town of Mount Kisco is coterminous with the village. The population was 10,959 at the 2020 United States census over 10,877 at the 2010 census. It serves as ...
, Ossining, or Peekskill. Areas such as
Lewisboro Lewisboro is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 12,411 at the 2010 census. The town is named after John Lewis, an early settler. Lewisboro is a suburb of New York City. History After purchasing land f ...
, North Salem, and Pound Ridge receive paratransit service only. During the school year, special bus routes also operate. All but the county's smallest, most rural communities have at least rush hour service. 


Outside Westchester

Because Westchester County borders on the
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...
of
the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...
, many of the Bee-Line's routes operate into the Bronx, offering Westchester residents connections to MTA New York City Transit
buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for char ...
and subways; at least one Bee-Line route connects to every subway route serving the Bronx. The Bee-Line System also operates an express route, the BxM4C from White Plains, Greenburgh, Hartsdale, Scarsdale, and Yonkers along Central Park Avenue to
Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping ...
in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
(return trips operate on
Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Str ...
within Manhattan). Bee-Line operates mostly closed-door service in the Bronx (local service is not provided solely for travel within the Bronx; appropriate MTA Regional Bus Operations service must be used instead). The only exceptions are: * Route 8, which terminates at the College of Mount Saint Vincent on the Bronx/Yonkers border; * Routes 40, 41, 42 and 43, which run along
White Plains Road White Plains Road is a major north-south thoroughfare which runs the length of the New York City borough of the Bronx. It runs from Castle Hill and Clason Point in the south to Wakefield in the north, where it crosses the city line and becomes ...
north of the Wakefield – 241st Street subway terminal; * Route 45, which serves the Pelham Bay Park subway terminal, the Pelham Bay and Split Rock Golf Course, and the Bartow-Pell Mansion; * Route 54, which runs on Mundy Lane along the Bronx/Mount Vernon border, since no other bus routes travel entirely through these areas; * and Routes 60 and 61, which run along
US Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, makin ...
( East Fordham and
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
roads in the Bronx). In addition, Route 12 (Armonk-Purchase-White Plains) briefly enters
Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast, Greenwich is home to many hedge funds and othe ...
along King Street, in which it makes stops in Greenwich and Rye Brook, New York along the New York/Connecticut border; Route 77 enters Putnam County to serve the US Route 6 corridor between Mahopac and Carmel; and Route 16 briefly enters Putnam County to serve the Mahopac Village Centre.


Fares

All fares require exact change or MetroCard. All transfers are free with payment of fare. Dollar bills are not accepted on any Bee-Line System buses.Fares and MetroCard
/ref> Bee-Line Bus started accepting MetroCard on April 1, 2007. The fare for the BxM4C went down from $7 to $5. The regular fare was $2 for MetroCard, and $1.75 if paid in cash. Dollar bills, passports, and ticket books were no longer accepted for fare payment after this date. MetroCard Vans made stops on heavily used routes to help people get ready for the MetroCard. On July 23, 2019, it was announced that the Bee-Line bus fare system on all buses would be upgraded to the OMNY fare system in 2021–2022, replacing the MetroCard. The Westchester County Department of Transportation states that "OMNY is targeted for introduction on the Bee-Line Bus System beginning in 2022 at the earliest. MetroCard will continue to be accepted by New York City Transit subways and buses and Bee-Line service until 2023, enabling Bee-Line passengers to have the option of using MetroCard or OMNY during the transition phase. By the end of 2023, MetroCard will be discontinued and all Bee-Line passengers will then use OMNY. The Reduced-Fare MetroCard Program will also be converted over to OMNY." For certain periods during the summer and winter of 2022, the busses were fare-free.


Fleet


Active fleet

This roster only lists buses and shuttle vans used in fixed route service.
Paratransit Paratransit is the term used in North America, also known by other names such as community transport ( UK) for transportation services that supplement fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. ...
vehicles are not listed. All buses are wheelchair accessible.


Past fleet


Historical Honors on Fleet

In October 2004, then- Westchester County Executive Andrew J. Spano launched a month-long celebration of local history by unveiling the top 15 winning names, which were applied on all of the 2002 Orion 05.505 buses. From 2005 to January 2012, these buses each bore the name of a person, place, or thing that played a role in the development of Westchester County.


Future fleet

In February 2020, it was announced that Westchester County's Bee-Line Bus fleet would be expanding with 78 hybrid-electric 60-foot buses (all delivered by summer 2020), 106 hybrid-electric 40-foot buses and two 40-foot battery-electric buses - all built by New Flyer Industries - under a plan to have the entire transit bus fleet running on either fully electric or diesel-electric hybrid technology by 2025. As of July 2020, 40 40-foot diesel-electric buses and two 40-foot battery-electric are planned to be delivered between 2021 and 2025. Four 35-foot battery-electric buses are also planned to be delivered, totaling 6 battery-electric buses by 2025.


References


External links


Bee-Line Bus System


{{NYC surface transit Bus transportation in New York (state) Transportation in Yonkers, New York Transportation in Westchester County, New York 1978 introductions Surface transportation in Greater New York Paratransit services in the United States