Varsity Bus Company
 Varsity Bus Company #1099 deadheads through Brooklyn. | |
| Headquarters | 626 Wortman Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11208 |
|---|---|
| Locale | New York City |
| Service type | School bus service |
| Chief executive | Andrew Brettschneider |
Varsity Bus Company is a former school bus operator in New York City. This company was established in 2003 when it acquired some of the school bus routes that had been operated by Varsity Transit, a sister company that had operated from 1965 to 2003.[1] Varsity ceased operations by the 2010s, and the headquarters of Varsity were later used by Total Transportation and L&M Bus Corp.
From 1979 until 2005, Varsity Transit affiliate Command Bus Company operated two local and seven express transit bus routes, routes that are now operated by MTA Bus Company. Varsity Transit and Command Bus Company were 40-percent owned by Green Bus Lines, 40-percent owned by Triboro Coach, and 20-percent owned by Jamaica Central Railways. Varsity Bus Company is owned by former executives of Green Bus Lines.
Command Bus
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Command Bus traces its history to Pioneer Bus Corporation, established in 1954 by three small school bus and charter bus operators.[2] Until 1960, when it obtained a franchise for the current B100, it only operated school, charter, and racetrack buses. Several express buses were implemented in 1972. Command Bus Company was incorporated October 22, 1979 by the late Mr. William Cooper (1895-1985) to resume bus service following a long strike at Pioneer, which went out of the express and local bus business when the strike started.
Like its corporate owners Green Bus Lines, Triboro Coach, and Jamaica Central Railways, the late Mr. Jerome Cooper (1928-2015) was the chairman of the board of both Varsity Transit and Command Bus Company. Originally co-housed with Varsity Transit, the operations of Command were eventually moved into a new NYCDOT facility at Spring Creek Depot, 12755 Flatlands Avenue in Brooklyn (this garage was leased by MTA Bus following the transfer of Command Bus Company routes to MTA Bus in 2005), it was previously built and owned by the New York City Department of Transportation before being sold to MTA Bus in early 2009).
In 1988, two Command buses were fitted by the Brooklyn Union Gas Company with engines which operated on compressed natural gas (CNG).[3][4] By the mid-1990s, many of the buses operated by Command ran on CNG.[5]
Bus routes
Command operated the following routes, which after the MTA takeover continued to be operated out of the Spring Creek Bus Depot:[6]
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion with: Route information on BM2S bus, BM4 bus, and Gotham Flyer routes. You can help by adding to it. (March 2019) |
| Route (Name) |
Terminal A | Major streets of travel | Terminal B | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Local | ||||
| B100 (Mill Basin Local) |
Midwood |
Quentin Road, Fillmore Avenue, East 66th Street | Mill Basin 56th Drive and Strickland Avenue |
No overnight service. |
| B103 (Canarsie Limited) |
Canarsie Williams Avenue and Flatlands Avenue |
|
Downtown Brooklyn Tillary Street and Adams Street - or -at Cadman Plaza Midwood |
Full route and no overnight service. |
| Brooklyn-Manhattan express | ||||
| BM-1 (Mill Basin Express) |
Manhattan |
|
Mill Basin 56th Drive and Strickland Avenue - or - Bergen Beach Avenue U and 71st Street? |
|
| BM-2 (Canarsie Express) |
Midtown Manhattan | Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, Gowanus Expressway, Prospect Expressway, Coney Island Avenue, Cortelyou Road, Flatbush Avenue, Avenue H, East 80th Street, Avenue M, Pennsylvania Avenue (downtown trips only) | Canarsie Flatlands Avenue and Williams Avenue |
|
| BM-2S (Starrett City Express; via Flatlands Avenue) |
Lower Manhattan | Starrett City Pennsylvania and Seaview Avenues. |
||
| BM-3 (Kingsbay Express) |
Manhattan |
Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, Gowanus Expressway, Prospect Expressway, Coney Island Avenue, Cortelyou Road, Ocean Avenue, Batchelder Street, Shore Parkway, Emmons Avenue | Sheepshead Bay Emmons Avenue and Shore Boulevard |
|
| BM-4 (Gerritsen Beach Express) |
Midtown Manhattan East 57th Street and 2nd Avenue |
Gerritsen Beach Gerritsen Avenue and Lois Avenue |
| |
| BQM-1 (Starrett City Express) |
Midtown Manhattan East 57th Street and 2nd Avenue |
Manhattan:- 34th Street, 5th Avenue (southbound), Madison Avenue (northbound) Brooklyn: Linden Boulevard, Ashford Street, Cozine Avenue, Van Siclen Avenue, Vandalia Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue Queens: Queens–Midtown Tunnel, Long Island Expressway, Woodhaven Boulevard, Cross Bay Boulevard |
Starrett City Pennsylvania Avenue and Seaview Avenue |
|
| Special Services; All discontinued in 2001[8] | ||||
| BMJ-1 (Meadowlands Special for Sheepshead Bay) |
Meadowlands Raceway | Avenue Z, Coney Island Avenue, Avenue M, 23rd Avenue, 65th Street, 19th Avenue, 86th Street, 4th Avenue, Flatbush Avenue | Sheepshead Bay East 15th Street and Sheephead Bay Road at Sheepshead Bay ( B Q trains) |
|
| BMJ-2 (Meadowlands Special for Starrett City) |
Flatlands Avenue, Avenue M, Kings Highway, Nostrand Avenue, Flatbush Avenue | Starrett City Pennsylvania Avenue and Flatlands Avenue |
||
| BQ-5 (Race Track Special for Bay Ridge) |
Aqueduct Raceway - or - Belmont Park |
|
Bay Ridge 86th Street and 4th Avenue at 86th St ( R train) |
|
| BQ-10 (Race Track Special for Midwood) |
|
Midwood Nostrand Avenue and Flatbush Avenue at Flatbush Avenue ( 2 5 trains) |
||
| BQ-11 (Race Track Special for Coney Island) |
|
Coney Island Mermaid Avenue and Stillwell Avenue at Stillwell Avenue ( D F <F> N Q trains)
|
||
| BQ-12 (Shea Special) |
Shea Stadium |
Flatbush Avenue, Church Avenue, Linden Boulevard, Woodhaven Boulevard, Long Island Expressway, Main Street, Roosevelt Avenue, 111th Street. | Flatbush Nostrand Avenue and Flatbush Avenue at Flatbush Avenue ( 2 5 trains) |
|
| BW-4 (Yonkers Raceway Special) |
Yonkers Raceway |
86th Street, 19th Avenue, 65th Street, 23rd Avenue, Avenue M, Flatlands Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Linden Boulevard, Van Wyck Expressway, Whitestone Expressway, Cross Bronx Expressway, Major Deegan Expressway, New York State Thruway | Bay Ridge 86th Street and 4th Avenue at 86th St ( R train) |
|
In the mid-1990s, Command operated "Gotham Flyer" service, using unfilled buses to carry express passengers between Midtown and Wall Street.
Fleet
- 1986 GM RTS-04/06
- 1988-89 MCI Classic TC40-102A
- 1994 TMC RTS-06 CNG
- 1998 ORION V CNG
References
- ^ Menchaca, Paul (June 12, 2003). "Varsity Transit Will Cease Bus Service After Almost 40 Years". Queens Chronicle. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
- ^ "Green Bus Lines, Inc., Triboro Coach Corporation, Jamaica Central Railways, Inc". sec.gov. GTJ Reit, Inc. February 9, 2007. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
- ^ Wald, Matthew L. (July 8, 1988). "2 BUSES TO RUN ON NATURAL GAS IN EXPERIMENT". The New York Times. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
- ^ Eric A. Goldstein; Mark A. Izeman; Natural Resources Defense Council (1990). The New York Environment Book. Island Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-1-55963-018-4.
- ^ "Letter to Mayor Bloomberg RE: Natural Gas Buses". Transportation Alternatives. June 5, 2002. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
- ^ "New summer schedules now in effect". June 6, 2000. Archived from the original on September 13, 2002.
- ^ a b MTA Regional Bus Operations (Winter 2007). "BQM1 bus schedule" (PDF). Retrieved December 20, 2010.
- ^ Green Bus Lines, Command Bus Company, Jamaica Buses, and Triboro Coach Routes (Archive.org)
External links
Command Bus Company only.
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