Academy Bus

Academy Bus

#8871 stops in Asbury Park on the Shore Points line, en route to New York City.
Slogan	We Know the Way
Founded	1968
Headquarters	Hoboken, New Jersey
Locale	Eastern United States
Service area	Eastern United States
Service type	Local and commuter bus service, contract service, charter service
Operator	Academy Lines LLC No. 22 Hillside LLC Academy Express LLC Academy Bus LLC (Florida)
Chief executive	Francis Tedesco
Website	www.academybus.com

Academy Bus Lines is a bus company in New Jersey providing local bus services in northern New Jersey, line run services to/from New York City from points in southern and central New Jersey, and contract and charter service in the eastern United States from Boston to Miami. In 2014, Academy acquired Go Buses, which operates bus service between New York City and Greater Boston.^[1] Academy is the third-largest motorcoach operator in the United States and Canada.^[2]

Academy's fleet consists of a variety of motor coaches, including Motor Coach Industries motorcoaches, which are used for commuter and charter services. Nova Bus LFS, RTS, and New Flyer Industries D60LF buses are used for university contracts and charters. Services operated under contract to New Jersey Transit use NJT-owned and branded Nova Bus RTS and North American Bus Industries buses. Many of Academy's Motor Coach Industries and Nova Bus RTS bus fleet are owned by New Jersey Transit and leased to Academy. These NJT-owned buses are Academy-branded and used on services directly controlled by Academy.

Routes

Under contract to NJ Transit

Under contract to New Jersey Transit, Academy Bus operates the following routes. Routes are listed by county.^[3]

• Hudson County: 2, 10, 22, 22X, 23, 88, and 119
• Middlesex County: 801-805, 810, 811, 813, 814, 815, 817, 818, 819, 822
• Monmouth and Ocean counties: Academy operates some peak hour trips on NJT's 130, 132, 136, and 139 routes.

Other contract operations

Under contract to Rutgers University, Academy Bus operated the campus shuttles for the New Brunswick and Piscataway campuses under a 10-year contract,^[4] until June 30, 2011, after which time First Transit Services, Inc. took over operations of the Rutgers Campus Buses. Academy has filed a lawsuit against the University over the loss of the contract.^[5][6] Despite the loss of shuttle operations, the company continues to provide the chartered bus operations used for tours and other events.

Academy continues to run a separate operation in New York City for New York University and various operations for universities in southern Connecticut and around Boston. Also, Academy Bus operates long-term parking shuttles around Newark Liberty Airport under contract to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey using Port Authority-owned and branded Orion VII buses.

Since January 2014, Academy operates the X23 and X24 routes between Manhattan and Staten Island, formerly operated by the now bankrupt Atlantic Express. These routes are subsidized by and operated under contract to the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

As of October 1, 2014, Academy operates the MTA Maryland Commuter Express routes #410, #411, & #420 under contract to and using MTA Maryland owned buses. The #820 was also awarded by MTA Maryland and began operations on July 1, 2015.

Academy operates under contract Best Bus, which provides intercity buses between New York and the Washington area.^[7]

Academy formerly operated under contract to Bridj, a private, app-based, on-demand transit service, in the Greater Boston area. ^[8]

Directly controlled commuter routes

Academy Bus provides commuter line run service along several routes from Burlington, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Ocean counties in New Jersey.^[9]

The full route is shown for each except for branching. Unless otherwise noted, passengers are carried to and from New York only.

Route	Terminals			Via	Notes
Line 300	New York Port Authority Bus Terminal	↔	East Windsor Windsor Heights Shopping Center	New Jersey Turnpike Applegarth Road Franklin Street Stockton Street	Local passengers carried between East Windsor and Monroe. Full-time service. Off-peak service operated by Suburban Trails. Most service continues on to East Midtown during the AM rush only.
		← AM ---- → PM	Plainsboro Town Center	New Jersey Turnpike Plainsboro Road	Peak service only. Clearbrook served daily on the East Windsor service. Most service continues on to East Midtown during the AM rush only.
			Jamesburg The Ponds, Concordia, and Whittingham	New Jersey Turnpike Applegarth Road Prospect Plains Road
Sayreville	New York East Midtown via 5/Madison Avenues	← AM ---- → PM	Sayreville Winding Woods	Garden State Parkway Main Street Washington Road Bordentown Avenue	Peak service only.
	New York Wall Street area		Sayreville Harbor Club	Weekday service only.
Route 9^1	New York Wall Street area	← AM ---- → PM	Lakewood Bus Terminal	Route 9	Peak service only. During the height of rush hour, three services operate: Old Bridge to Union Hill Road only. Gordon's Corner to Lakewood. Jackson to Lakewood.
Shore Points	New York Port Authority Bus Terminal	↔	Point Pleasant Beach Railroad station	Garden State Parkway Lincroft Park-Ride (Exit 109) Route 35 Ocean Avenue Route 71	Via Chesequeake and PNC Bank Arts Center park-rides. Local passengers are carried between Asbury Park and Lincroft. Wall Street service operates during peak hours only. Weekday midday service does not travel south of Asbury Park. Weekend service does not travel south of Ocean Grove. Jersey Shore Premium Outlets service also interlined on both weekdays and weekends to operate via Cheesequake and Lincroft.
	New York Wall Street area	← AM ---- → PM
Route 36	New York Port Authority Bus Terminal	↔	Long Branch Railroad station	Garden State Parkway Route 36	Via Airport Plaza in Hazlet and Chesequeake Park-Ride. Local passengers are carried between Hazlet and Long Branch. Wall Street service operates during peak hours only.
	New York Wall Street area	← AM ---- → PM
Route 35	New York Port Authority Bus Terminal	← AM ---- → PM	Red Bank Route 35 and Navesink River Road	Garden State Parkway Route 35	Peak service only. Via Airport Plaza in Hazlet and Chesequeake Park-Ride.
Parkway Express	New York Port Authority Bus Terminal	← AM ---- → PM	Forked River Park-Ride	Garden State Parkway CR 549 (some trips)	Peak service only. Also serves Jersey City. Some lower Manhattan service operates via Jersey City. Weekday Midday service from Monmouth Service Area, Lincroft and Cheesequake operated as part of their Manchester-Jackson service. See Note 2 below for Toms River and Route 549 service.
	New York Wall Street area
Westampton	New York Port Authority Bus Terminal	↔	Willingboro Van Sciver Parkway (peak) Westampton Exit 5 park-ride (full-time)	New Jersey Turnpike Exit 5 Mount Holly Road Sunset Road	Wall Street via Jersey City service operates during peak hours only. AM rush service to midtown continues to East Midtown. Willingboro served during peak hours only.
	New York Wall Street area	← AM ---- → PM

NOTES:

1. Route 9 service via Academy is provided to lower Manhattan only (except for service via Jackson, which is available to midtown Manhattan). Route 9 service to midtown (except Jackson service) is provided on the 139 full-time.
2. Toms River and Route 549 service via Academy is only provided to lower Manhattan. Toms River service to midtown Manhattan is provided on the 137 line full-time.
3. All service via the Garden State Parkway (except for Route 9) operates via the Cheesequake park and ride. Shore Points and Parkway Express services also stop at the PNC Bank Arts Center.

Casino line runs

Academy Bus operates several regularly scheduled line services from points in the New York metropolitan area to and from casinos in Atlantic City, Yonkers, and Connecticut, with service to the Port Authority Bus Terminal operated in partnership with Coach USA as a Megabus service, the M25 (buses carry Academy markings).

Go Buses

Go Buses operates from a street stop near Pennsylvania Station to Alewife and Riverside stations in Greater Boston.

Corporate structure

Academy Bus, LLC is a limited liability corporation and holding company that owns three operating companies: Academy Lines, LLC, Academy Express, LLC, and No. 22 Hillside Corporation.^[10]

References

1. "Federal Register - Academy Express, L.L.C.-Acquisition of the Properties of Go Bus LLC and Its Affiliate, MCIZ Corp.". Retrieved 2015-05-10.
2. Roman, Alex (2016-01-25). "2015 Top 50 Motorcoach Fleets Survey". Metro. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
3. New Jersey Transit - Bus
4. "Middlesex County Comprehensive Transportation Study Final Report Appendix" (PDF). Archived February 4, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. (224 KiB)
5. Academy Bus of Hoboken sues Rutgers University.
6. Contractor sues Rutgers over loss of bus contract
7. DC2NY BECOMES BESTBUS! WHOM YOU KNOW SAYS, THAT'S BECAUSE THEY ARE! New markets for BestBus Coming Soon will include Manassas, VA; Silver Spring, MD and Baltimore, MD in addition to the markets and stops served by DC2NY in the District of Columbia, Virginia, New York and Delaware.
8. "Pop-up bus service Bridj to launch test runs June 2 - The Boston Globe". Retrieved 2016-10-05.
9. Academy Bus commuter schedules
10. National Labor Relations Board, "CASE 22-RC-12287" (PDF)., December 18, 2002

External links

• Official website