Sunday bus ridership triples, with East End route posting highest numbers

Sunday bus riders in Suffolk County have nearly tripled since the new program was launched six months ago. Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman announced today.

According to data from the Suffolk County Division of Transportation, which runs the public buses, monthly ridership has risen from 1,307 in early January when the program was launched to 3,665 riders by the end of June, Schneiderman said in a press release.

The S92 bus route, which runs from Orient Point to East Hampton, making stops in Sag Harbor, Water Mill, Southampton Village, Hampton Bays, Flanders and Riverhead, had the most Sunday riders in the county with a total 16,832 riders through June 29 — out of a total of 78,892 Sunday bus tickets sold in the first half of the year, the legislator said.

The county bus service did not offer any Sunday service until Schneiderman and former legislator Ed Romaine successfully advocated for its implementation on a pilot basis on the S92 and 10C feeder routes in 2011. 

Last year Schneiderman sponsored a resolution to expand Sunday service to other areas of the county by making more than $2 million dollars in state and federal transportation assistance available for increased services.

“Public transportation provides people with the ability to access employment, medical care, and other community resources across the county,” said Schneiderman. “I’m pleased to see the number of residents taking advantage of this service.”

The areas receiving Sunday bus service are also entitled to individualized transportation service for the physically disabled, Schneiderman said. Suffolk County Accessible Transit provided a peak of 125 passengers per Sunday during the first half of the year.

Schneiderman said he is looking for ways to further expand Sunday bus service to other areas of the county where the service is still not available.