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Varsity Bus Company

{{Short description|Defunct public bus transport company and current school bus operator in New York City}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2017}}

{{Infobox Bus transit

| name = Varsity Bus Company

| logo =

| logo_size = 150px

| image = Varsity Bus Company Blue Bird 1099.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| image_caption = Varsity Bus Company #1099 deadheads through Brooklyn.

| company_slogan =

| parent =

| founded =

| headquarters = 626 Wortman Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11208

| locale = New York City

| service_area =

| service_type = School bus service

| alliance =

| routes =

| destinations =

| stops =

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| ridership =

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| operator =

| ceo = Andrew Brettschneider

| website =

}}

File:Command Bus Company Orion V 05.501 CNG 4966.jpg

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.{{Cite web|last=Menchaca|first=Paul|date=June 12, 2003|title=Varsity Transit Will Cease Bus Service After Almost 40 Years|url=https://www.qchron.com/news/western/varsity-transit-will-cease-bus-service-after-almost-40-years/article_63f0d498-e525-592a-bc2d-64e6b66d1271.html|access-date=2020-09-25|website=Queens Chronicle|language=en}} 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

File:A Driving Force for Natural Gas (8056998331).jpg driving a Command Orion I CNG-powered bus in 1988.]]

Command Bus traces its history to Pioneer Bus Corporation, established in 1954 by three small school bus and charter bus operators.{{cite web|title=Green Bus Lines, Inc., Triboro Coach Corporation, Jamaica Central Railways, Inc.|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1368757/000104746907001119/a2176046z424b2.htm|website=sec.gov|publisher=GTJ Reit, Inc.|access-date=January 2, 2016|date=February 9, 2007}} 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).{{cite web|last1=Wald|first1=Matthew L. |title=2 BUSES TO RUN ON NATURAL GAS IN EXPERIMENT|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/08/nyregion/2-buses-to-run-on-natural-gas-in-experiment.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 15, 2015|date=July 8, 1988}}{{cite book|author1=Eric A. Goldstein|author2=Mark A. Izeman|author3=Natural Resources Defense Council|title=The New York Environment Book|url=https://archive.org/details/newyorkenvironme0000gold|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/newyorkenvironme0000gold/page/108 108]|year=1990|publisher=Island Press|isbn=978-1-55963-018-4}} By the mid-1990s, many of the buses operated by Command ran on CNG.{{cite web|title=Letter to Mayor Bloomberg RE: Natural Gas Buses|url=https://www.transalt.org/news/testimony/1919|publisher=Transportation Alternatives|access-date=December 15, 2015|date=June 5, 2002}}

Bus routes

{{see also|List of bus routes in Brooklyn#MTA Bus routes|List of local and express multi-borough bus routes in New York City#Manhattan to Brooklyn}}

Command operated the following routes, which after the MTA takeover continued to be operated out of the Spring Creek Bus Depot:{{cite web|date=June 6, 2000|title=New summer schedules now in effect.|url=http://www.commandbus.com/|url-status=dead|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20020913034319/http://www.commandbus.com/|archive-date=September 13, 2002}}

{{section incomplete|1=Route information on BM2S bus, BM4 bus, and Gotham Flyer routes|date=March 2019}}

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;" |
Route
(Name)

!Terminal A

!Major streets of travel

!Terminal B

!Notes

colspan=5|Brooklyn Local
B100
(Mill Basin Local)

|Midwood

East 16th Street and Quentin Road
at Kings Highway ({{NYCS trains|Brighton|time=box}})

| 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

|

  • All trips: East 105th Street, Avenue M, East 80th Street, Avenue H
  • Downtown Brooklyn trips: Cortelyou Road, 3rd/4th Avenues, Livingston Street, Cadman Plaza West/Adams Street

|Downtown Brooklyn

Tillary Street and Adams Street
at Cadman Plaza
- or -
Midwood
Flatbush Avenue and Nostrand Avenue
at Flatbush Avenue ({{NYCS trains|Nostrand|time=box}})

|Full route and no overnight service.

colspan=5|Brooklyn-Manhattan express
BM-1
(Mill Basin Express)

|Manhattan

|

  • Northbound: Trinity Place, Church Street, Park Place, Broadway, Park Row, Frankfort Street, FDR Drive, 23rd Street, Madison Avenue
  • Southbound: 5th Avenue, 23rd Street, FDR Drive, Water Street, State Street, Battery Place
  • Downtown Loop only: Park Place, Broadway, Park Row, Frankfort Street, Pearl Street, Water Street, State Street, Battery Place
  • Brooklyn: Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, Gowanus Expressway, Prospect Expressway, Coney Island Avenue, Cortelyou Road, Ocean Avenue, Avenue K, East 66th Street

|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

|

  • Operated by Erin Tours until 1988.
  • Originally went on Nostrand Avenue between Avenue K and Flatbush Avenue, Flatbush Avenue between Nostrand Avenue and Cortelyou Road, instead of Avenue K and Ocean Avenue.
  • Midtown service via Downtown area operates all day.
  • Midtown express service bypassing Downtown area operates weekday peak rush hours.
  • Downtown service operates weekday peak rush hours.
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

|

  • Formerly made only one stop in Queens, at 79th Street in Lindenwood.
  • Expanded Queens service along Woodhaven and Cross Bay Boulevards began April 2010.
  • Last pickup to Manhattan and first dropoff from Manhattan is in Rego Park/Middle Village.
  • No Downtown service; Downtown service provided by weekday rush hour BM2 service.
  • Renumbered as BM5 on July 16, 2007.{{cite NYC bus|url=http://web.mta.info/busco/schedules/bqm001cur.pdf|display=BQM1|effective=Winter 2007|access-date=December 20, 2010}}
colspan=5|Special Services; All discontinued in 2001[https://web.archive.org/web/19991011063553/http://www.commandbus.com/menu/menu.html Green Bus Lines, Command Bus Company, Jamaica Buses, and Triboro Coach Routes (Archive.org)]
BMJ-1
(Meadowlands Special for Sheepshead Bay)

|rowspan=2| 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 ({{NYCS trains|Brighton|time=box}})

|

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)

|rowspan=3|Aqueduct Raceway
- or -
Belmont Park

|

  • All Routes: 86th Street, 19th Avenue, 65th Street, 23rd Avenue, Avenue M, Flatlands Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Linden Boulevard
  • Aqueduct Route: Centerville Street, Rockaway Boulevard
  • Belmont Park Route: Springfield Boulevard, Hempstead Turnpike

|Bay Ridge
86th Street and 4th Avenue
at 86th St ({{NYCS trains|Fourth far south|time=box}})

|

BQ-10
(Race Track Special for Midwood)

|

  • All Routes: Flatbush Avenue, Church Avenue, Linden Boulevard, Conduit Boulevard.
  • Aqueduct Route: Centerville Street, Rockaway Boulevard
  • Belmont Park Route: Springfield Boulevard, Hempstead Turnpike

|Midwood
Nostrand Avenue and Flatbush Avenue
at Flatbush Avenue ({{NYCS trains|Nostrand|time=box}})

|

BQ-11
(Race Track Special for Coney Island)

|

  • Kings Highway route: Kings Highway, Avenue M
  • Coney Island route: Stillwell Avenue, Neptune Avenue, Ocean Parkway, Avenue Z, Nostrand Avenue, Avenue U, Mill Avenue, Ralph Avenue
  • Both routes: Flatlands Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Linden Boulevard

|Coney Island
Mermaid Avenue and Stillwell Avenue
at Stillwell Avenue ({{NYCS trains|Stillwell|time=box}})


- or -
Midwood
Kings Highway and East 16th Street
at Kings Highway ({{NYCS trains|Brighton|time=box}})

|

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 ({{NYCS trains|Nostrand|time=box}})

|

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 ({{NYCS trains|Fourth far south|time=box}})

|

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20060107053101/http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/masstran/buses/introbus1.html All Franchise Private Bus Lines Now Operated by MTA]

{{NYC surface transit|state=collapsed}}

Category:1954 establishments in New York City

Category:American companies established in 1954

Category:Transport companies established in 1954

Category:Bus transportation in New York City

Category:Defunct public transport operators in the United States

Category:School bus operators