Dollar vans in the New York metropolitan area
In the New York metropolitan area, dollar vans are a form of semi-formal public transportation. Dollar vans serve major corridors in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx that lack adequate subway and bus service. A variant of the dollar van, the jitney, also serves areas in eastern New Jersey and transports them to Manhattan.
Within the New York City area, the term "dollar van" originates from the vans which charged one dollar during the 1980 New York City transit strike. Drivers capitalized on the lack of transportation available and subsequently needed throughout the city. Today, dollar vans can still be seen across multiple boroughs. However, prices now typically range from two to six dollars per fare. Often, dollar vans serve what are known as transit deserts, areas that are made up of poor modes of travel and often have many gaps in their transit systems. These "transit deserts" result from a lack of service from MTA Regional Bus Operations routes, or the removal of such service.
Traditionally, the operation of dollar vans has been by immigrants who bring their own culture stateside. Usually Caribbean and Haitian immigrants operate in eastern Queens and Brooklyn, while Chinese immigrants operate within New York City's Chinatowns. Often, drivers modify their vans to add additional amenities, usually inspired from one's culture. The dollar vans have numerous benefits in that they can transport passengers efficiently, and provide a sense of community to the ethnic groups that use them. However, dollar vans also provide competition to licensed drivers, which cannot pick up passengers at MTA bus stops, and are generally more flexible in operations. While permits are available via application through New York City's government, intense licensing requirements and an especially high cost of insurance results in many drivers staying unlicensed and unregulated.[1]
Operations
Dollar vans started operating after the 1980 New York City transit strike, when all transit operated by New York City Transit Authority was stopped. Residents of transit-deprived parts of New York City started a share taxi service with minibuses and their own private vehicles. The fare on each of these share taxis was one dollar. Even after the strike ended, share taxis continued to operate, evolving into higher-capacity "dollar vans" with seats for up to 13 people.[2] During the 2005 New York City transit strike, dollar vans were also used.[3][4]
Dollar vans and other jitneys mainly serve low-income, immigrant communities in
In New Jersey, 6,500 jitney buses are registered, and are required to have an "Omnibus" license plate, which denotes the vehicle's federal registration. They are also required to undergo inspection by the state
The New York City-area dollar van system is highly used, and in 2011, it was rated the 20th most used "bus system" in the United States.
Areas served
Chinese-operated dollar vans (which are distinct from, and not to be confused with, Chinatown bus lines), go from Manhattan's Chinatown to places in Sunset Park, Brooklyn; Elmhurst, Queens; and Flushing, Queens. There is also a service from Flushing to Sunset Park that does not pass through Manhattan. At $2.50, a ride on Chinatown dollar vans is usually cheaper than on the subway and bus systems. The vans, which are mostly in the Chinese language, are used mainly by non-English-speaking Chinese immigrants in Queens and Brooklyn, who have moved to the outer boroughs because living in Manhattan is too expensive. The dollar vans, which take about half as long to travel as the subway does between the same two points, allow Chinese communities in New York City to be closely connected to each other.[2][7] Some Chinese vans may make stops at places pre-arranged by the customer.[9]
In central Brooklyn, there are many dollar vans that are operated mainly by
In
When the MTA discontinued some bus routes on June 27, 2010, operators of commuter vans were allowed to take over certain discontinued bus routes.
In
Denser urban areas of
Criticism
Travelers cite safety, comfort, reliability and cost as factors in choosing larger bus service over jitneys. Hudson County commuters who prefer
Dollar vans may change ownership over the course of decades, and the mostly immigrant drivers are subject to police searches. Between 1994 and 2015, the TLC issued 418 van licenses, although the vast majority of vans are unlicensed. Licensed vans cannot pick up at New York City bus stops, and all pick-ups must be predetermined and all passengers logged. Additionally, in the 1980s and 1990s, the predominantly black and mostly immigrant dollar van drivers stated that they were harassed "day and night" by the New York City Police Department (NYPD), with some van drivers having their keys confiscated and thrown away by NYPD officers.[2]
Regulation
In 2006, the New York City Council began debate on greater industry regulation, including requiring all dollar vans to be painted in a specific color to make them easier to recognize, similar to the public light buses in Hong Kong.[19][20]
Over the course of the 2000s, surprise inspections in Hudson County have been imposed on jitney operators, whose lack of regulation, licensing or regular scheduling has been cited as the cause for numerous fines. A series of such inspections of the vans on Bergenline Avenue in June 2010 resulted in 285 citation violations, including problems involving brake lights,
In 2012, four Chinatown vans were seized for carrying too many passengers over the legal limit of 19.[9] In 2014, over 1,000 dollar vans were seized by TLC and NYPD inspectors for illegal dollar van operations. However, most vans were returned to their owners within relatively short periods of time.[23]
On July 30, 2013, an accident occurred at 56th Street and
See also
- Marshrutka
- Share taxi
- Pesero
- Dolmuş
- Minibuses in Hong Kong
- Nanny van
- Aluguer
- Hail and ride
- Songthaew
References
- doi:10.7916/d8w959rp.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Reiss, Aaron. "New York's Shadow Transit". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
- ^ Henderson, Christopher (December 22, 2005). "Crowds Overrun LIRR Station While Traffic Crawls In Jamaica" Archived 2018-01-26 at the Wayback Machine. Queens Chronicle
- ^ Joiner, Bryan (January 20, 2005). "Long Stalemate Expected After Union Quits Strike Negotiations" Archived 2018-03-16 at the Wayback Machine. Queens Chronicle.
- ^ Richardson, Lynda (December 12, 1999). "As Transit Strike Looms, 'Dollar Vans' and Ferries Are Poised to Cash In". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 23, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
- ^ The Union City Reporter. pp. 1 and 9
- ^ a b Margonelli, Lisa (October 5, 2011). "The (Illegal) Private Bus System That Works". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on October 8, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
- ^ Holmes, David (July 8, 2014). "Anti-Uber: The quiet disruption of NYC dollar vans". Pando. Archived from the original on August 3, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
- ^ a b "The Brief Wondrous Life of the One Dollar Bus". Flushing Exceptionalism. August 19, 2012. Archived from the original on May 28, 2016. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
- ^ Romeo, Speedy (December 6, 2012). "A hail of a ride: A BK dollar van map". Brokelyn. Archived from the original on November 23, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
- ^ a b c Santos, Fernanda (June 9, 2010). "Licensed and Illegal Vans Fight It Out". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ Chow, Lisa (June 25, 2010). "Up from Underground: Demand Drives Dollar Van Industry". wnyc.org. New York, NY: WNYC. Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ Bernstein, Andrea (July 5, 2010). "Commuter Vans Authorized to Run on Discontinued Bus Routes" Archived 2012-03-10 at the Wayback Machine. WNYC-FM.
- ^ "Minutes of the Meeting Of the Historic New Bridge Landing Park Commission". March 6, 2008
- The Bergen Record.
- ^ "Best Things to do in Secaucus NJ New Jersey" Archived 2016-08-11 at the Wayback Machine Hotel Planner; Accessed August 7, 2010
- ^ "Hudson County Bus Circulation and Infrastructure Study"[permanent dead link]. HudsonCountyNJ.org. Prepared for Hudson County Division of Planning. June 2007. Accessed August 7, 2010 (PDF file)
- ^ a b c Semple, Kirk (August 13, 2013). "New Jersey Jitney Drivers Squeezed Between Competition and Demands for More Safety". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
- ^ Lueck, Thomas J. (March 30, 2006). "New Yorkers May Soon Be Able to Tell A Van, as They Do a Cab, by Its Color". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 29, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
- ^ Wohlwend, Lynn (April 6, 2006). "Council Eyes Color Coding To Make 'Dollar Vans' Safer" Archived 2018-07-26 at the Wayback Machine. Queens Chronicle.
- ^ Hague, Jim (May 13, 2007). "Erratic driving, lack of licensing: Prosecutor's Office cracks down on commuter vans". The Hudson Reporter
- ^ "Hudson County Master Plan: Chapter IV: Circulation Plan". HudsonCountyNJ.org. Accessed August 7, 2010
- ^ Kern-Jedrychowska, Ewa (September 23, 2014). "1,000 'Dollar Vans' Seized Since Last Year, But Most Return to Street". DNAinfo New York. Archived from the original on October 9, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
- ^ a b Haydon, Tom (June 22, 2016). "Bus driver charged in crash that killed infant breaks down at trial" Archived 2016-06-23 at the Wayback Machine. NJ.com
- ^ "Family Devastated After Death Of Infant In West New York Bus Crash". CBS News. July 31, 2013. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
- NorthJersey.com.
- ^ a b Passantino, Joseph (August 11, 2013). "Never again, legislators say" Archived 2016-08-09 at the Wayback Machine. The Hudson Reporter.
- ^ "Parents of infant killed in jitney accident sue driver, owner". "Briefs". The Union City Reporter. March 9, 2014. pp. 4 and 5.
- ^ "N.J. Pols Introduce 'Angelie's Law' Targeting Distracted Commuter Van Drivers". CBS New York. January 30, 2014. Archived from the original on September 20, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
- ^ Conte, Michaelangelo (March 5, 2014). "'Angelie's Law' makes jitney victim a hero because of lives that will be saved". NJ.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
External links
- "Dollar Van". The Big Apple. February 16, 2005
- Jitney Buses of New Jersey