New York Bus Service was a private

bus 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 cha ...

company in

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 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Originally a

school bus A school bus is any type of bus owned, leased, contracted to, or operated by a school or school district. It is regularly used to transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter bus or transit bus ...

company founded in the mid-1940s, it was best known for providing express bus service between Midtown Manhattan and eastern sections 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 Y ...

from 1970 until July 1, 2005, when the city (MTA) assumed the company's operations from longtime owner Edward Arrigoni. Former NYBS routes currently operate under the

MTA Bus Company MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO) is the surface transit division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). It was created in 2008 to consolidate all bus operations in New York City operated by the MTA. , MTA Regional Bus Operations ru ...

brand of the

Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in th ...

, out of the former NYBS facility in

Eastchester, Bronx Eastchester is a working-class neighborhood in the northeast Bronx in New York City. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are the Bronx-Westchester County border to the north, the New England Thruway to the east, Bayche ...

History

The company began as the "station wagons-for-hire" business of Ferdinand E. Arrigoni. It was officially founded in either 1944 or 1945 under the name Parochial Bus Service to provide

service. It began operating

racetrack A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also u ...

services from the Bronx and

Upper Manhattan Upper Manhattan is the most northern region of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but some of the most common usages are 96th Street, the northern boundary of Central Park ( 110th Street), ...

in 1949, then operating as New York Bus Tours. In 1964, contemporary owner Edward F. Arrigoni took over the company after the death of his father. The company later operated service to the

1964 New York World's Fair The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair was a world's fair that held over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants, representing 80 nations (hosted by 37), 24 US states, and over 45 corporations with the goal and the final result of building exhibits or ...

(under the subsidiary Ferdinand Arrigoni, Inc.) and to

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

games at

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.George Washington Bridge Bus Station The George Washington Bridge Bus Station is a commuter bus terminal located at the east end of the George Washington Bridge in the Washington Heights area of Manhattan in New York City. The bus station is owned and operated by the Port Authori ...

Washington Heights, Manhattan Washington Heights is a neighborhood in the uppermost part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest natural point on Manhattan by Continental Army troops to defen ...

. The Shea Stadium service would also operate from

Fordham Plaza Fordham Plaza, originally known as Fordham Square, is a major commercial and transportation hub in the Fordham and Belmont sections of the Bronx in New York City, New York, United States. It is located on the south side of Fordham Road at Thir ...

Parkchester Parkchester is a planned community and neighborhood originally developed by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and located in the central Bronx, New York City. The immediate surrounding area also takes its name from the complex. Its boundari ...

, and several other locations in the Bronx. By 1968, the company began operating under the name New York Bus Service. With the institution of off-track betting legislation in 1970, the demand for transportation to the race track diminished. New York Bus Service needed to find another niche in the bus transportation sector. Under the leadership of owner Edward Arrigoni, New York Bus Service commenced Parkchester - Manhattan express bus service (now the BxM6) on August 24, 1970. Six more lines were added including a Co-Op City to Wall Street express bus service, later to be done away with. These express bus routes would run frequently during AM and PM peak periods. New York Bus Service also previously operated two local bus routes in 1968 from Co-op City to the

Wakefield–241st Street station The Wakefield–241st Street station (signed as 241st Street) is a terminal station on the IRT White Plains Road Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of 241st Street and White Plains Road in the Wakefield neighborhood o ...

via Baychester Av. (Bx71), and from Co-op City to the

Eastchester–Dyre Avenue station The Eastchester–Dyre Avenue station (signed as simply Dyre Avenue) is the northern terminal station of the IRT Dyre Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, at Dyre Avenue and Light Street (one block south of East 233rd Street) in the East ...

(Bx70). Both of these routes were discontinued in 1972 due to low ridership. New York Bus Service designed the standard

New York City Department of Transportation The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) is the agency of the government of New York City responsible for the management of much of New York City's transportation infrastructure. Ydanis Rodriguez is the Commissioner of the Departm ...

Private Lines driver badges and discovered ways of reducing rollsign wear.

City takeover and current status

As part of a major takeover of the remaining private bus operators, on March 23, 2005 the city of New York announced it had agreed to take over NYBS operations. The city made an initial buyout payment of two million dollars for rights to the Bronx express bus lines NYBS operated. The MTA Bus Company (the successor to the private line operations) meanwhile agreed to pay Arrigoni and the other NYBS owners six million dollars annually for use of its depot and maintenance facilities for a period of twenty years, with an option to purchase afterwards. On July 1, 2005, NYBS ceased operations and the former bus routes began operating under MTA Bus. The MTA has since renamed the garage to

Eastchester Depot MTA Regional Bus Operations operates local and express buses serving New York City in the United States out of 29 bus depots. These depots are located in all five boroughs of the city, with the exception of one located in nearby Yonkers in Westch ...

. The large facility currently provides heavy maintenance services, along with a body shop for collision rebuilding and repairs for many MTA, and NYCT buses, stores "system reserve" buses, and handles much of the scrapping duties, including usable parts removal with components salvage and removal operations from all retired buses.

Bus routes

Prior to the MTA Bus takeover, New York Bus Service operated the following express bus routes with starting dates:

References

Iona College Honors Edward Arrigonni as an Alumni
*National Bus Trader April 1985 Issue

External links

New York Bus Service at nybus.com
(available via the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

)
New York Bus Tours/New York Bus Service (BusTalk U.S. Surface Transportation Galleries)
{{NYC surface transit Bus transportation in New York City Defunct public transport operators in the United States American companies disestablished in 2005 American companies established in 1944 Transport companies established in 1944 1944 establishments in New York City 2005 disestablishments in New York (state)