Monsey Trails

Monsey Trails
Headquarters 8 Washington Avenue
Locale Spring Valley, New York
Service area Rockland County, New York, Lakewood, New Jersey
Service type coach service
Routes 6
Fleet 60-70 buses
Fuel type diesel
Website www.monseytrails.com

Monsey Trails is a private bus company plying a publicly licensed route based in Rockland County, New York. It is operated by a Jewish family of the Skver Hasidic sect in New Square. The publicly subsidized carrier uses a fleet of about 60 coach buses, a few of which are publicly owned by Rockland County and leased to Monsey, running about 75 scheduled daily commuter trips. While the county-owned Transport of Rockland provides local service and connects commuters with rail transit to New York City, Monsey Trails, along with Short Line, provides private bus service between the suburbanized region and the area's principal city, New York City. A subsidiary, Monsey Tours, provides charter service.

The company's primary area of service is in the heavily ultra-Orthodox Jewish west-central portion of the county, and much of the company's literature is printed in both English and Yiddish. Routes originate in Monsey, a community with a strong Orthodox Jewish but somewhat diverse population, and New Square, a Hasidic village. Many routes also travel to the heavily ultra-Orthodox Jewish Brooklyn neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Boro Park. Another route connects Monsey and New Square with Kiryas Joel, an exclusive Satmar Hasidic community in Orange County.

Monsey Trails made the news in 1994, when a Jewish woman filed a discrimination suit against the company, after she was told by ultra-Orthodox Jewish passengers to leave a men’s section.[1] The dispute raised questions about how far a company which receives government financing can go in accommodating religious practices. Monsey Trails received mass transit subsidies from New York State amounting to nearly $650,000 in 1993, roughly a quarter of the company's annual revenue.[2] The suit resulted in an out-of-court settlement, in which Monsey Trails agreed not to actively segregate male and female riders for Jewish prayers, and neither to provide a curtain to separate the male passengers from women, nor advertise daily prayers in its timetables, as they had done before.[3]

Lakewood Express

Monsey Trails also operates service between Lakewood, New Jersey and Brooklyn under the Lakewood Express brand. This service was previously operated by Darkanu Bus Company until it shut down after an accident, and Monsey assumed the route.[4]

The Baltimore Line

Monsey Trails also operates service between Baltimore, Maryland and Brooklyn under the Baltimore Line brand. Buses depart three times a week from 14th Ave & 53rd St in Brooklyn, and arrive at 7 Mile Market in Baltimore. Buses also depart three times a week from 7 Mile Market in Baltimore and return to Brooklyn at 14th Ave & 53rd St.[5]

Routes

Route Number Route Name Route Description
1 NYC Route New Square/Monsey to Manhattan
2 Brooklyn Route New Square/Monsey to Williamsburg/Boro Park
5 Forshay Route Monsey North to Manhattan
6 K.J. Express New Square/Monsey to Kiryas Joel
7 Lakewood Express Lakewood, New Jersey to Brooklyn
8 Baltimore Line Brooklyn to Baltimore, Maryland

References

  1. ↑ "Region News Briefs; Bus Company Is Sued Over Seating for Prayers". The New York Times. October 18, 1994. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  2. ↑ Joseph Berger (September 9, 1994). "Discrimination or Discourtesy?; A Commuter Won't Leave Her Bus Seat for Hasidic Prayer Meeting". The New York Times. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  3. ↑ Joseph Berger (March 14, 1995). "Commuters Reach Settlement Over Jewish Prayers on Bus". The New York Times. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  4. ↑ WABC-TV (June 2, 2010). "Six hurt when bus overturns on Garden State Parkway". BC 7 Eyewitness News. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
  5. ↑ thebaltimoreline webpage
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