Routing The Future

A pilot program being run by Suffolk County Transit that provides on-demand bus service shows a promising future for the county bus system on the East End. It’s an innovative approach to meet the needs of area residents by recognizing that the eastern half of the county has different needs from larger, denser communities to the west.

The program, currently being test run between Sag Harbor and Southampton Village, allows riders to “hail” a short shuttle bus through a mobile phone app, like they would with for-profit ride sharing services like Lyft or Uber. The app tells the rider where to meet the bus along the route and at what time the bus should arrive, showing the current location of the bus on a map.

Unlike the ride sharing services, whose prices can fluctuate depending on peak demand, the price for the bus is the same as for a regular bus, $2.25, regardless of destination or time of day.

Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming, who used the service herself when traveling from her Noyac home to her former district office in Sag Harbor, and continues to utilize it now that her office has relocated to Southampton Village, is a huge fan of the pilot program and sees it as the future of bus services on the East End.

The service is already popular with younger riders, who are perhaps more accustomed to using a phone app to hail a ride, and is gaining in popularity with other commuters as well.

The on-demand bus replaces a fixed-route bus — in which a bus travels along the same fixed route over and over several times per day; riders must use set bus stops along the way, hoping the buses are on time. With the on-demand system, riders know when and where to catch the bus — unlike the old static bus route, the on-demand buses will turn off the main route and onto side streets, within reason, to meet riders closer to their homes or jobs.

The on-demand system is more cost effective than the fixed system, with the long buses spewing diesel fuel in a continuous loop, whether riders are on board or not.

As part of the agency’s reformulation plan currently underway, officials are considering cutting two more fixed-route buses in East Hampton and replacing them with the on-demand buses. And a new chunk of change included in the recently approved state budget may help facilitate that — as well as get the on-demand buses running on the weekends, a frequent demand of current riders.

The cuts mark the agency’s current focus to provide services in more densely populated towns in western Suffolk County, at the expense of the less populated East End. The bus service hopes to expand service in more densely populated areas with the goal of attracting more riders in those areas commuting to and from work.

They argue that it’s just not economically sound to increase service on the historically underutilized East End — perpetuating a chicken-and-egg scenario in which commuters don’t utilize buses that run infrequently and less dependably, so what routes do exist are cut.

But that’s what makes the on-demand service more attractive. It takes into account the varying demographics and geography of the area and finds a solution that will be attractive and easy to use on a case-by-case basis, instead of the mass transit systems that work to the west.

Area residents should give the on-demand buses a try, and, if they like them, utilize the system and encourage others to do so, too, so that the county service can make an investment in a transit system that works for everyone. It’s high time that the East End gets a workable and affordable transit system.