Westchester's Bee Line - - a hidden crisis

(Editor's note:  This post was prepared in draft status in 2016, with new information provided this week.  )

In 2015, I posted about the lack of communication within Westchester's Bee-Line bus and paratransit system  This past week, I feel that Westchester County has a crisis on their hands which is not really shown in media reports like Yonkers schools - - the lack of funding and no public information on their website.   Want to find out about bus detours on Bee Line's Service alerts page?  Forget it, they still don't post any except for standard snow detours.  Need to call customer service and speak to an information agent during normal business hours?  Good luck, sometimes their lines are closed - - like when I found out by calling them on Friday October 21 2016 to ask them about the bus detours during the Yonkers marathon. and other events which requires street closings. Same problem in 2017 when their 2017 Riverfest and Yonkers Marathon were held on Saturday and Sunday respectively - - with no notice of bus detours:

While Westchester County will issue a $10 million bond to pay for new articulated buses  with approx 20 percent from Federal funds.  The article claims they are for the busy Central Park Ave/Central Ave corridor (Routes 20/20X/21) so could it be that Bus Rapid Transit which has been in the works since 2007 may happen?  However, I have yet to see construction of a new pedestrian bridge connecting Cross County Mall at Macy's with Central Park Ave southbound side at Burger King.  So all funding for the BRT study and still nothing to show for,

Westchester County has a problem with customer service as their phone lines are closed on some days as I found out when calling their information line several times.  If there is no information agent available, the pre-recorded message tells you the office is open but to try again later, no voice recording is enabled so you can receive a call back from someone in that office.

Construction projects might have a bus stop relocated which Westchester Bee line does not post.  In the most recent case in point, the construction of an extended sidewalk on White Plains Road at East 233rd Street in the Bronx, forced the relocation of the weekday only Route 42 terminal from White Plains Road side to East 233rd Street in front of the Bx31 southbound bus stop because there is no space for the 42 buses to layover.


Bee Line has other issues too - - they lack a bus tracking system and, until recently, had no bus stop and schedule data.  The latter can now be found in Google Maps, making it one of the last bus companies in the New York Metropolitan area to have the bus stop and schedule data.   A bus tracking system will encourage a better customer experience for Westchester County bus riders.