Victory Boulevard buses explained

Box Width:300px
Subheader:Victory Boulevard
Victory Boulevard/Jewett Avenue
Victory Boulevard/Forest Hill Road
System:MTA Regional Bus Operations
Operator:New York City Transit Authority
Garage:Castleton Depot (S66)
Yukon Depot (S61, S62, S91, S92)
Vehicle:Orion VII EPA10 (S66 only)
Nova Bus LFS
Open:1989-1990 (S61, S62, S66)
1990s (S91, S92)
Predecessors:R6, R112
Locale:Staten Island, New York, U.S.
Communities:St. George, Tompkinsville, Silver Lake, Grymes Hill, Sunnyside, Castleton Corners, Port Richmond, Bulls Head, Manor Heights, Heartland Village, New Springville, Travis
Start:St. George Ferry Terminal
Via:Victory Boulevard, Jewett Avenue (S66), Bradley Avenue (S61, S91), Forest Hill Road (S61, S91)
End:New Springville – Staten Island Mall (S61, S91)
Travis/Chelsea - ConEdison Travis (S62, S92)
Port Richmond - Richmond Terrace & Port Richmond Avenue (S66)
Length:9.1miles (S61, S91)
8.2miles (S62, S92)
7.7miles (S66)
Otherroutes:S93 Clove Road/Victory Boulevard Limited
SIM31 Eltingville/Forest Hill Road/Midtown
SIM32 Travis/Victory Boulevard/Downtown
Day:24 hours (S62)
All times except late nights (S61)
Weekdays (S66)
Rush hours (S91, S92)
Timetable Link:S61/S91 S62/S92 S66
Annualpatronage:693,296 (S61/S91)(2023)
652,058 (S62/S92)(2023)
825,571 (S66)(2023)[1]
Transfers:Yes
Map State:collapsed
Previous Line:S59
← S90
Next Line:S74 →
S93

The S61, S62, S66, S91, and S92 buses constitute a public transit line in Richmond County, New York City. These routes primarily run along Victory Boulevard towards multiple western Staten Island communities, splitting at Mid-Island. They are operated by the MTA Regional Bus Operations under the New York City Transit Authority brand.

Route description

All five routes begin at St. George Ferry Terminal Ramp A, exiting the terminal and running on Bay Street until Victory Boulevard, where they all turn west and run along it. The S66 deviates from the route at Highland Avenue to serve Grymes Hill and Wagner College, rejoining Victory Boulevard at Clove Road. They all run together until Jewett Avenue, where the routes split:

The S91 and S92 are limited-stop variants of the S61 and S62. The S91 and S92 make limited stops between St. George and Jewett Avenue, with the S61, S62 and S66 providing local service. During AM rush hours, the S61 does not run towards St. George, with the S91 providing service instead. During either AM or PM rush hours, S62 service west of College of S.I. is replaced by the S92, as well as additional short turns everyday between College of S.I. and St. George. Late night S62 trips bypass College of S.I..

The S61, S62, S91, and S92 are based out of Yukon Depot, while the S66 is based out of Castleton Depot.

History

The S62 and S66 were originally the R112 and R6, respectively. The R112 originally only ran between Travis and Victory Boulevard-Jewett Avenue, with rush hour trips operating as a shuttle between the latter and St. George. It also ran special weekend service between St. George and Willowbrook State School, with trips coinciding with the visitor hours. When the College of S.I. first opened, select trips ran to/from the campus entrance. The R6 originally consisted of a full-time route between Port Richmond and St. George via Jewett Avenue and a weekday shuttle in Grymes Hill, designated the S6S.

Sometime between April 2, 1989 and April 15, 1990, the R112 was renamed to the S62, the R6 and S6S were relabeled to the S66 and S60, respectively, and the S61 was created. The S91 and S92 were also created sometime in the early-1990s and the S62 was also extended to service the full length of Victory Boulevard.

On September 10, 1995, weekend and overnight service on the S66 were discontinued due to service cuts implemented to reduce a budget deficit.[2] The S66 changes were expected to save $309,000 annually and additionally, plans were previously announced by New York City Transit on March 15th of the same year to also eliminate weekend S60 service, which would have saved an additional $32,000 a year, but this change didn't go through.[3]

In 2007, another stop was added at Forest Avenue for the S91 and S92, allowing an extra transfer to the S48.[4] On June 27, 2010, due to another round of service cuts to reduce a budget deficit, the S60 was merged into the S66.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Subway and bus ridership for 2023 . mta.info . April 29, 2024. May 2, 2024.
  2. News: Connelly . Eileen AJ . Blis . Jeff . September 9, 1995 . Fewer Hours, Shorter Routes For Bus Riders . Staten Island Advance.
  3. News: Connelly . Eileen AJ . March 16, 1995 . Changes on Local Bus Routes Lengths, Hours to be Trimmed . Staten Island Advance.
  4. Web site: 2007 . Staten Island Bus Service Notice . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071104161826/http://www.mta.info:80/nyct/service/bus/bussrvnosi.htm . November 4, 2007 . September 14, 2023 . mta.info.
  5. https://web.archive.org/web/20101218020135/http://www.mta.info/news/pdf/NYCT_Revised_Service_Changes.pdf 2010 budget crisis information