Long Island Bus collection
Scope and Contents
The Long Island Bus Collection consists of photographs, documents, artifacts, and audio/visual materials showcasing events, employees, and operations of Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority (MSBA)/MTA Long Island Bus. Most of the collection comprises photographic materials portraying special events, public relations, employees, and company operations. Document series include maps, newsletters, and service brochures. Audio/visual material consists of public service announcement messages, service advertisements, and coverage of special events.
Dates
- 1942 - 2011
- Majority of material found within 1976 - 1993
Creator
- Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority (Organization)
- Long Island Bus (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright restrictions apply; requests for reproduction must be submitted to the department in writing.
Biographical / Historical
The Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority (MSBA) was founded in 1973 as a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), arising out of the consolidation of multiple private bus companies, including Bee Lines, Inc., Hempstead Bus Corporation, and Nassau Bus Line. By 1994, the entity’s name was formally changed to MTA Long Island Bus, and was serving nearly 100 Long Island communities and 48 LIRR stations throughout Nassau County, western Suffolk County and eastern Queens County.
In 2010, discussion about the funding for Long Island Bus operations between Nassau County and the MTA became uncertain in the face of looming service cuts occasioned by Nassau County’s inability to pay its allotted financial contribution to transit operations. Following these discussions on budget mishaps and service reductions, MTA and Nassau County determined to sever ties. On April 27, 2011, MTA voted to cease all bus service in Nassau County at the close of 2011. Starting January 1, 2012, the private company Veolia Transportation arranged a public-private partnership with Nassau County, assuming operation of the former Long Island Bus routes. As of 2012, the lines run under the name Nassau Inter-County Express, also known as NICE.
Extent
31 Linear Feet : Photographs, documents, artifacts, and audio/visual materials
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Long Island Bus collection consists of photographs, documents, artifacts, and audio/visual materials providing information on agency special events, employees, and operations of Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority (MSBA)/MTA Long Island Bus.
System of Arrangement
The collection has been arranged into 12 series, in function of subject and format type, and are ordered chronologically or alphabetically thereafter, as appropriate. In some series, the item-level description appearing in the collection inventory below is preceded by the number of copies of each item, noted in parentheses. Because of the collection’s diverse formats, contents are located in multiple locations throughout the 882 Third Avenue facility; for the purposes of concise notation, the terms Row, Unit, Shelf, Box, Folder, and Flat File are abbreviated here as R, U, S, B, F, and FF, respectively.
Other Finding Aids
PDF URL
Provenance
Collection materials were found in various offices of the MTA Long Island Bus facility located at 700 Commercial Avenue in Long Island. The Facility served as corporate headquarters for Long Island Bus and is known alternatively as the Mitchel Field Depot, and the Senator Norman J. Levy Transit Facility. Susan Czelusniak, in her professional capacity as Senior Manager of Marketing for Long Island Bus, gathered and transferred the collection contents to the New York Transit Museum in 2012.
Processing Information
Processed by Andrew Grablewski, Carey Stumm, and Desiree Alden, 2013.
- Audiocassettes
- Badges
- Banners
- Brochures
- Bus drivers–New York (State)–Long Island
- Bus lines–Fares–New York (State)–Nassau County
- Bus lines–New York (State)–Long Island
- Bus route maps
- Buses
- Color photographs
- Color slides
- Hempstead Bus Corporation
- Local transit–New York (State)–Long Island
- Nassau Inter County Express
- New York (State). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Bus Company
- Newsletters
- Tickets
- Transportation–New York Metropolitan Area–Timetables
- Videocassettes
- Title
- Finding aid for the Long Island Bus collection
- Status
- Under Revision
- Date
- 2013
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Revision Statements
- 2022: Edited and reformatted by Elise Winks
- 2024: Manually entered into ArchivesSpace by Joanna Satalof
Repository Details
Part of the Archives and Reading Room Repository