Community members urge county to strengthen fixed-route Bee-Line service as transit redesign moves forward
Students at SUNY Purchase, working with the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), delivered a petition to Westchester County leadership last night at the Board of Legislators meeting in White Plains, calling on the county to maintain and strengthen Bee-Line Route 12 service to Purchase College. The petition, which was launched by the NYPIRG SUNY Purchase chapter, carries 688 signatures from students, faculty, and staff across the campus community.
“This petition shows just how strongly our community feels about improving bus service to campus,” said Nikko Gambino, a SUNY Purchase student and NYPIRG Board of Directors member. “Nearly 700 students and staff signed on because reliable, frequent transit is essential to accessing quality public college education.”
Route 12 provides a key transit connection between Purchase College and communities across Westchester and the Bronx. As of 2019, the route served approximately 347 daily riders. Many Purchase students do not own cars and rely on public transit as their primary means of reaching campus. The petition urges the county to use the ongoing Bee-Line redesign process as an opportunity to expand service frequency, reliability, and accessibility to the campus.
“SUNY Purchase is a public college, and public colleges should be accessible by public transit,” said Matthew Paolucci, the NYPIRG Project Coordinator at SUNY Purchase. These 688 signatures make clear that our community is ready to work with the county to build a better Route 12 for students, staff, and the wider community that relies on this service.”
Organizers also point to strain on SUNY Purchase’s own campus bus service, known as the Loop, which sees nearly double the daily ridership of the Bee-Line route. Organizers describe the Loop as already overburdened, and say that eliminating fixed-route Bee-Line service to campus would only push more riders onto a campus system that is struggling to keep up with existing demand. Rather than shift the burden, organizers argue, the county should be looking to strengthen the Bee-Line’s role as a complement to campus transit.
Eamonn Doherty, a SUNY Purchase student and NYPIRG intern, also spoke on the importance of studying transportation accessibility solutions for students at SUNY Purchase such as an integrated Tap-to-Ride fare system for students. “UPass programs at colleges across the country have dramatically increased ridership and reduced car dependency on campuses. We’d love to see Westchester County and SUNY Purchase explore a similar program — but that starts with maintaining the fixed-route service that makes it possible.”
NYPIRG is urging Westchester County to meaningfully include the SUNY Purchase community in the redesign planning process and to pursue a plan that improves and builds on existing fixed-route service. Organizers note that the county is expected to reopen the planning process in the near future and say they look forward to working with the county on a transportation solution that delivers meaningful benefits to riders.
NYPIRG is a not-for-profit, student-directed advocacy organization, training students and other New Yorkers to be leaders in environmental, educational, and public health policies since 1973. NYPIRG has chapters at college campuses across the state. www.nypirgstudents.org.
