North Shore Bus Company

The North Shore Bus Company operated public buses in Queens, New York City. It was established in 1920 as the successor to the New York and North Shore Traction Company trolley system, and operated until 1947 when it went bankrupt, and its operations were taken over by the New York City Transit Authority.

Pre-history: New York and North Shore Traction Company

The company was established in 1902 as a trolley company called the Mineola, Roslyn & Port Washington Traction Company, but as it grew into Queens it was renamed in 1907 as the "New York and North Shore Traction Company." It had a line from Flushing, Queens to Roslyn in Nassau County named the North Shore Line, as well as another from Flushing to Whitestone–14th Avenue Station on the Whitestone Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, better known as the Whitestone Line. Within Nassau County, it had lines from Port Washington to Mineola which was known as the Port Washington Line, and from Mineola to Hicksville, called the Hicksville Line.

The trolley cars on this system were considered to be the largest and most powerful on Long Island and in Queens. As powerful as they were however, they still had difficulty climbing the hills of such areas as Douglaston and Manhasset.[1]

Transition to buses

By the late-1910s many trolley systems began to decline, but rather than collapse or sell themselves to other companies, the NY&NST replaced their trolley cars with buses, the majority of which operated in Queens. The economic impact of the Great Depression forced them to sell off many of their routes to other companies during the 1930s, most notably to the Triboro Coach Corporation, one of the last surviving private bus lines in New York City. In spite of this, the company was still occasionally able to purchase routes from Bee Line, Incorporated in Nassau County. North Shore acquired the Flushing Heights Bus Corporation and its Q17 and Q25 routes on September 22, 1935, although that company was never merged into NSB.[2] On June 25, 1939, North Shore acquired the remaining Bee Line routes and Bee Line's 165th Street Bus Terminal in Jamaica,[3] as part of the company's takeover of nearly all routes in Zone D (Jamaica and Southeast Queens).[4][5] By the 1940s, North Shore operated nearly all the bus routes in Zone B (Flushing and Northern Queens) and Zone D.[6][7][8]

On March 30, 1947 the company went bankrupt after its drivers and other employees went on strike. Its operations were taken over by the New York City Board of Transportation, which was superseded by the New York City Transit Authority in 1953.[9][10][11][12]

North Shore bus routes

References

  1. ↑ Meyers, Stephen L. (2006). Lost Trolleys of Queens and Long Island. Images of Rail. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. pp. 57–60. ISBN 0-7385-4526-0.
  2. ↑ "North Shore Company Takes Over Rival's Routes". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 24, 1935. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  3. ↑ "North Shore Buses Start From Terminal Today" (PDF). Long Island Star-Journal. Fultonhistory.com. June 25, 1939. p. 3. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "North Shore May Take Over Z & M And Schenck Lines on Saturday: Franchise for Zone D Area Is Legalized" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. Fultonhistory.com. June 27, 1939. p. 1. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  5. ↑ Abelman, Lester (February 2, 1939). "Court Upholds Bus Permit; City Defeats Bee Line In Zone D Fight; Way Cleared for North Shore to Take Over Routes in Jamaica Area" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. Fultonhistory.com. p. 1. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  6. ↑ North Shore Bus Company (February 1, 1946). "To Our Riders" (PDF). Long Island Star-Journal. Fultonhistory.com. p. 20. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  7. 1 2 North Shore Bus Company (July 29, 1942). "For the Convenience of Queens Bus Riders" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. Fultonhistory.com. p. 4. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "Bus Service Increased By North Shore: 156 Trips a Day Added, Most of The During Rush Hours" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. Fultonhistory.com. June 29, 1941. p. 11. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  9. ↑ Sparberg, Andrew J. (1 October 2014). From a Nickel to a Token: The Journey from Board of Transportation to MTA. Fordham University Press. ISBN 978-0-8232-6190-1.
  10. ↑ "CITY TAKES OVER BUS LINE: O'Connor Selected to Operate North Shore System". The New York Times. March 30, 1947. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  11. ↑ "120-Passenger Vehicles Added For Next Week: 10 City Lines Will Have All New Equipment by Wednesday" (PDF). Fultonhistory.com. Long Island Star-Journal. December 31, 1948. p. 2. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  12. ↑ "Major Improvements Ordered in Zone D" (PDF). Long Island Star-Journal. Fultonhistory.com. April 10, 1947. p. 2. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  13. ↑ New Bus Line to City Airport (New York Times; April 6, 1940)
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