MTA Regional Bus Operations
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. As of February 2018, MTA Regional Bus Operations runs 234 local routes, 71 express routes, and 20 Select Bus Service routes. Its fleet of 5,840 buses is the largest municipal bus fleet in the United States and operates 24/7. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 730,924,600, or about 2,427,700 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.
Parent
May 7, 2008[1]
Local, limited-stop, bus rapid transit, and express bus service
325 total:
- 234 local routes
- 71 express routes
- 20 SBS routes
2,427,700 (weekdays, Q1 2024)[3]
730,924,600 (2023)[4]
New York City Transit Authority, MTA Bus Company
Craig Cipriano (acting)[5]
The division comprises two brands: MTA Bus and MTA New York City Bus. While MTA Bus is an amalgamation of former private companies' routes, MTA New York City Bus is composed of public routes that were taken over by the city before 2005. The MTA also operates paratransit services and formerly operated Long Island Bus. As of 2018, MTA Regional Bus Operations' budgetary burden for expenditures was $773 million.
Regional Bus Operations is currently only used in official documentation, and not publicly as a brand. The current public brands are listed below:
The most common scheme today is a straight blue stripe across the sides of the bus against a white base, with no colors on the front or back, and black window trim. From 1977 until late 2007, the livery was a full all-around stripe with a black rear, and until late 2010 (and still present on buses repainted during this time), the scheme was a stripe with a white rear and no rear stripe. Buses operated in Select Bus Service bus rapid transit service are wrapped with a light blue-and-white wrap below the windows. In spring 2016, a new livery was introduced based on navy blue, light blue, and yellow, with a mostly blue front and sides, a light blue and yellow wave, and a yellow back. This new livery will gradually replace the blue stripe on a white base livery. The livery is commonly known as the MTA's Andrew Cuomo Scheme or Excelsior Scheme (after the state motto for New York).
Currently, many RBO's operational changes have been at the management level, with the creation of a unified command center and consolidation of management for all bus operations, with the aim of reducing redundancies in the agency. Other changes have included eliminating the MTA Bus call center, folding it into that of MTA New York City Transit, and the unification of the fare policy for all of the MTA's services.
Ridership[edit]
As of December 2017, weekday bus ridership in 2017 averaged 1.9 million, while total weekend ridership averaged 2.1 million. Express buses had an average weekday ridership of 40,200, while paratransit was used by a mean of 27,900 people each weekday.[191]: 94
Bus ridership has steadily declined through the 2000s and 2010s. From 2008 to 2017, bus ridership declined by more than 100 million.[192] Average weekday bus ridership fell 5.7%, and average weekend bus ridership fell 4%, from 2016 to 2017.[191]: 96 The greatest ridership decreases were in Manhattan, where bus ridership declined more than 15% from 2011 to 2016. Ridership decreased less dramatically in Brooklyn and parts of Queens and Staten Island, while ridership increased slightly within the Bronx, southwest Brooklyn, central Queens, and most of Staten Island.[174]: 18 Bus lines that ran parallel to subway routes also saw ridership declines. As of 2017, there were thirteen bus routes with at least 20 stops within 0.1 miles (0.16 km) of a subway station; all saw ridership declines, with each route averaging a 20% loss.[174]: 42
