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Jan 10, 2006 9:36 am US/Eastern
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Bee Line Buses To Accept MetroCards
Westchester Line To Expand Wheelchair Accessibility
WHITE PLAINS (AP) ―
Westchester's Bee Line buses will soon accept MetroCards allowing riders to take longer trips for less money.
Also Bee Line buses this year will have 104 new 60-seat buses, all of which should be on the road by October. Those additions will make the entire 357-bus fleet wheelchair-accessible, apart from the Bx-M-4-C express buses to Manhattan, which are scheduled to be replaced with accessible buses in 2007. The system also has 50 paratransit buses for the disabled.
Westchester Transportation Commissioner Lawrence Salley said that by the end of the year, Bee-Line riders should be able to use MetroCards to travel within Westchester and beyond by taking a county bus to the Bronx and connecting with New York City buses or subways, all for less than a $1.75 per ride.
The county is now negotiating agreements with the New York City Transit Authority and expects to install new fare boxes in its buses in the fall.
The MetroCard would most benefit the one-third of Bee Line riders who also use New York City buses or subways, but Westchester riders also would get free transfers now costing 25 cents for travel within the county.
Although a 48-day strike that ended April 23 left the Bee Line's 55,000 riders stranded, riders this week were glad to learn that transportation officials will try to make bus travel more pleasant in 2006.
Salley said the system did not lose any riders because of the strike.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)