The Westchester County Bee-Line System, branded on the buses in lowercase as the bee-line system, is a bus system serving Westchester County, New York. The system is owned by the county's Department of Public Works and Transportation.
History
The system was founded on May 1, 1978, by the then Westchester County Department of Transportation to consolidate the bus system with thirteen private bus companies and has been given control over the buses, fare structure, routes, and services. By the 1980s, the bus system had an identity problem in who was providing the service. On May 19, 1987, WCDOT officially named the bus service "The Bee-Line System" with a 'bee-in-flight' mascot drawn by cartoonist Jack Davis.[2][3]
The Westchester County Department of Public Works and Transportation currently contracts out to two private bus companies to provide service in Westchester County and the surrounding counties: Yonkers-based Liberty Lines Transit, Inc., the main company that either bought out or obtained franchises from the other twelve bus companies over the years, operates buses on all but three bus routes; and Cortlandt Manor-based P.T.L.A. Enterprise, Inc., a small company that operates buses on routes 16, 18, and 31.
Scope of service
The Cerrato Satellite Bus Facility in Valhalla
Most Bee-Line routes operate seven days a week throughout the year. Until 2024, there was no service county-wide on two days of the calendar year: Thanksgiving (the fourth Thursday in November), and Christmas (December 25). Starting in 2025, Bee-Line will operate limited service on these holidays.[4]
The system's 64 routes are mostly concentrated in the more urban southern portion of the county, with the cities of Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, and Yonkers receiving a high frequency of service. White Plains, the county seat and most centrally located city, is a major transportation hub with many routes converging on the city's TransCenter.
Service in the northern portion of Westchester is sparse and is concentrated near slightly populated areas such as Mount Kisco, Ossining, or Peekskill. Areas such as Lewisboro, North Salem, and Pound Ridge receive paratransit service only. During the school year, special bus routes also operate. All but the county's smallest, most rural communities have at least rush hour service.[5]
Bee-Line operates mostly closed-door service in the Bronx (local service is not provided solely for travel within the Bronx; appropriate MTA Regional Bus Operations service must be used instead). The only exceptions are:
All fares require exact change, OMNY, or MetroCard. All transfers are free with payment of fare. Dollar bills are not accepted on any Bee-Line System buses.[6]
free to MTA local buses, subways, and other Bee-Line services
$3.85 "step-up" charge for transferring to an MTA Bus express route
After paying $35 ($17.50 for reduced-fare customers) within seven days of an initial tap, customers receive unlimited rides for the rest of that seven-day period.[7]
UniTicket is a monthly train-to-bus, reduced-rate ticket that combines monthly round-trip local bus service with train fare. UniTicket is available for purchase at any Metro-North ticket office. It is accepted for one fare to/from the railroad station listed on the ticket. A transfer may not be purchased when boarding with a UniTicket.
Bee-Line Bus started accepting MetroCard on April 1, 2007.[8] The fare for the BxM4C went down from $7 to $5. The regular fare was $2 for MetroCard, and $1.75 if paid in cash. Dollar bills, passports, and ticket books were no longer accepted for fare payment after this date.[9] MetroCard Vans made stops on heavily used routes to help people get ready for the MetroCard.[10] On July 23, 2019, it was announced that the Bee-Line bus fare system on all buses would be upgraded to the OMNY fare system in 2021–2022, replacing the MetroCard. The Westchester County Department of Transportation states that "OMNY is targeted for introduction on the Bee-Line Bus System beginning in 2022 at the earliest." OMNY hasn't been installed as of May2025[update], but is expected to be installed in 2025 to 2026.[11] MetroCard continued to be accepted by New York City Transit subways and buses and Bee-Line service until 2026. Although MetroCard sales ended on December 31, 2025, OMNY fare payments on the Bee-Line system were not implemented until January 4, 2026; in the meantime, passengers used cash or their remaining MetroCard balance for fare payment. The Reduced-Fare MetroCard Program will also be converted over to OMNY.[12][13]
For certain periods during the summer and winter of 2022, the buses were fare-free.[14] During the summers of 2023 and 2024, buses were fare free until Labor Day.
As of 2025[update], the Bee-Line System had 325 buses in its fleet, of which 40 were diesel vehicles and the rest were hybrid or electric vehicles.[15] This roster only lists buses and shuttle vans used in fixed route service. Paratransit vehicles are not listed. All buses are wheelchair accessible.
In February 2020, it was announced that Westchester County's Bee-Line Bus fleet would be expanding with 78 hybrid-electric 60-foot buses (all delivered by summer 2020), 106 hybrid-electric 40-foot buses and two 40-foot battery-electric buses – all built by New Flyer Industries – under a plan to have the entire transit bus fleet running on either fully electric or diesel-electric hybrid technology by 2025. As of July 2020, 106 40-foot diesel-electric buses and two 40-foot battery-electric are planned to be delivered between 2021 and 2025. Four 35-foot battery-electric buses are also planned to be delivered, totaling 6 battery-electric buses by 2025.[16][17][18]
↑"All About MetroCard in Westchester". westchestergov.com. April 2007. Archived from the original on August 31, 2007. Retrieved May 15, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
↑"MetroCard Van Schedule". westchestergov.com. April 2007. Archived from the original on September 1, 2007. Retrieved May 15, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
↑"OMNY/Bee-line". transportation.westchestergov.com. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
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