New Suffolk bus schedules begin Sunday; routes eliminated, hours extended to nights and weekends

A major overhaul of Suffolk County’s transit system — including the elimination of more than a dozen routes — takes effect Sunday, and some bus commuters could be caught off-guard by the changes, riders and advocates said.

More than two years after it launched its “Reimagine Transit” initiative, Suffolk is set to unveil its redesigned bus system, which aims to increase service frequency and extend evening and weekend hours on most routes, but also eliminates many lines with lower ridership. Suffolk County Transit will go from operating 41 different routes to 27.

Jonathan Keyes, Suffolk's director of downtown and transit-oriented development, who is heading the project for the county, acknowledged that “there will definitely be growing pains and bumps in the road” with the redesign — the most significant in the system’s 43-year history. But, Keyes said, county officials are confident that the end result will be a “much more useful system” for most transit riders.

“I’ve had people tell me that now they can take the late shift at work, because the bus runs until 10 or 11 at night, and that’s something they always wanted to do, but couldn’t” said Keyes, adding that the changes will triple the number of Suffolk households near bus routes with half-hourly service.

S60 rider Melissa Branch, of Gordon Heights, looks forward to getting home earlier with a bus coming every 30 minutes.

“It’s not that long, like it used to be. It used be like an hour and change for the next bus to come,” said Branch, 43, who is also excited about the extended weekend hours. “It seems real good, especially the Sunday service. On Sundays, we’ve never had service.”

But some Suffolk communities will be left with no bus service at all, as the plan eliminates many routes, including the S56 route running between Commack and Lake Grove. Evan Gould, who lives in Smithtown and rides the bus, said he’ll get by because he drives, but knows of other riders who “don’t know what to do.”

“That entire corridor has nothing. … It’s basically just wiped out,” Gould, 21, said. “I know that there are still some people who are just finding out about it the other day, or maybe today. And it’s going to come on Sunday.”

Charlton D'souza, president of Passengers United, a transit rider advocacy group, agreed that many riders still aren’t aware of the looming changes and that the county should take another month to spread the word.

“There should have been announcements all over,” D'souza said. “I think this is a disaster in the making.”

Keyes said the county took a “boots-on-the-ground” approach to notifying the public about the changes, with transit representatives riding buses over the last several weeks , and reaching other riders by email, through the Suffolk County Transit website, and through notices posted on all 3,400 bus stops in the system. Riders can also call 311 or email buses@suffolkcountyny.gov for more information.

Lisa Sevimli, who rides the S66, said she’s not confident that the changes will improve bus service, especially if they entail eliminating some routes.

“I don’t think that makes any sense — to cut routes,” said Sevimli, of East Patchogue, who said she regularly deals with frustrations including long waits and not having a bus shelter at her stop. “We have a broken transportation system, and they’re breaking it even more.”

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.