The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, known more familiarly as MTA New York City, is the single largest public transportation operator in the United States. The MTA operates over 5700 buses, over 6000 subway cars, and two different commuter rail systems: Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Railroad. Most of the MTA’s operation is centered around New York City, NY.

Bus Operations

MTA New York City operates two types of bus service: Local Buses (identified by a letter and number). And express buses (identified by two or more letters and a number). Local buses utilize a simple fare system and offer free transfer between lines as well as subways. Express buses, on the other hand, utilize a more premium fare and free transfers are NOT available to express buses.

Of these buses, MTA New York City also operates two sub-divisions within their bus network: MTA Bus and MTA New York City Transit. MTA Bus is composed of former private operations such as Jamaica bus lines, Queens Surface, and many others that the MTA has taken over. MTA New York City Transit, however, is all from the original New York City Transit Authority, which is MTA’s direct predecessor.

Bus Routes and Transfers

As previously mentioned, all MTA bus routes have letter and number combinations. The letter would indicate which borough the route operates through, whereas the number is the bus route itself. Express buses would have two or more letters indicating more than one borough.

• B – Brooklyn. These buses operate within the borough of Brooklyn, connecting with Downtown Brooklyn, JFK Airport, Coney Island, and Williamsburg.
• Bx – Bronx. These buses operate within the borough of Bronx. Some bronx routes connect with Westchester Bee-Line buses through the borough. Some Bronx Buses also operate into Harlem, Manhattan.
• M – Manhattan. These buses operate primarily within Manhattan, with some crossing over to Queens. Manhattan buses can connect with NJ Transit in Middtown Manhattan.
• Q – Queens. Now this is where it gets interesting as for the most part, queens bus routes stay within Queens but unlike every other letter, there is at least one Q route in every Borough (except Staten Island). Queens buses connect with Nassau Inter-county Expresss or NICE within Jamaica, Queens.
• S (or SI for Express Buses) – Staten Island. All of these routes are from Richmond County service, operating to St George’s Ferry Terminal, Eltingville Transit Center, or Staten Island Mall. Some Staten Island Bus routes operate into Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
• X – Express. This is also a non-demoninator express bus designator. Unlike with every other designation, X buses only utilize one letter in the route number on express bus lines.

On Express buses, the route letters would indicate which boroughs they serve. For example, SIM routes serve Staten Island and Manhattan. Most express buses serve Manhattan, as the “M” in their names suggests.

Bus Fleet Roster

MTA New York City’s bus fleet is in a transitional phase, between the classic “Orion” buses from the early 2000s, to more modern New Flyer Xcelsior and NovaBus LFS buses. The MTA has also notably changed their livery in 2015 to what is known now as the “Cuomo livery.”

Year	Make/Model	Image	Engine/ Transmission	Numbers	Livery
2004-2006	Motor Coach Industries D4500CL		Catepillar C13/ Allison B500R-5	3000-3474 (MTA Bus) 4300-4329 (MTA NYC Transit)
2006-2007	Orion VII HEV		Cummins ISB/ BAE Systems HybriDrive	3500-3783 (MTA Bus) 6689-6905 (MTA NYC Transit)
2008	Motor Coach Industries D4500CT		Catepillar C13/ Allison B500R-5	2210-2250
2008-2010	Orion VII “Next Generation” HEV		Cummins ISB/ BAE Systems HybriDrive	3800-4278, 4330-4702
2009-2010	NovaBus LFS Artic		Cummins ISL/ ZF Ecomat 604-6HP	1200-1289
2011-2013	New Flyer C40LF		Cummins ISL-G/ Allison B400R6	185-672
2011-2012	New Flyer XD40		Cummins ISL/ Allison B400R6	4811-4899
2011	NovaBus LFS		Cummins ISL/ Allison B400R6	8000-8014
2011	NovaBus LFS		Cummins ISL/ ZF Ecolife 1400AB	8015-8089
2011-2013	NovaBus LFS Artic		Cummins ISL/ ZF Ecolife 1700AB	5252-5383 (2013) 5770-5986 (2011-2012)
2011	Orion VII “Third Generation”		Cummins ISL/ ZF Ecolife 1400AB	7000-7089
2011	Prevost X3-45		Volvo D13/ Allison B400R6	2400-2489
2012	Motor Coach Industries D4500CT		Cummins ISL/ Allison B500R6	2251-2304
2012-2013	New Flyer XD60		Cummins ISL/ Allison B500R6	4710-4754 (2012) 4755-4784 (2013)
2013	New Flyer XD60		Cummins ISL/ ZF Ecolife 1700AB	4784-4788
2014-2015	Prevost X3-45		Volvo D13/ Allison B500R6	2490-2789
2014-2015	New Flyer XD40		Cummins ISL/ Allison B400R6	7090-7483
2015-2016	New Flyer XD60		Cummins ISL/ ZF Ecolife 1700AB	5364-5438	“Cuomo” Livery”
2015-2016	NovaBus LFS		Cummins ISL/ ZF Ecolife 1400AB	8090-8503
2016-2017	New Flyer XN40		Cummins ISL-G/ Allison B500R6	673-810	“Cuomo” Livery”
2016-2018	New Flyer XD60		Cummins ISL/ Allison B500R6
2016-2018	NovaBus LFS Artic		Cummins ISL/ ZF Ecolife 1700AB	5439-5530	“Cuomo” Livery”
2017-2018	New Flyer XN60		Cummins ISL-G/ ZF Ecolife 1700AB (1016-1020) Cummins L9N/ ZF Ecolife 1700AB	1000-1109	“Cuomo” Livery”
2017-2018	New Flyer XD40		Cummins L9/ Allison B400R6	7484-7850	“Cuomo” Livery”
2018-2021	New Flyer XDE40		Cummins B6.7/ Allison H 40 EP (9500-9504, 9510-9559) Cummins B6.7/ BAE Systems HDS 200 (9505-9509, 9560-9619)	9500-9509 (2018) 9510-9619 (2020-2021)	“Cuomo” Livery”
2018-2019	NovaBus LFS		Cummins L9/ ZF Ecolife 1400AB	8503-8754	“Cuomo” Livery”
2018-2019	NovaBus LFS Artic		Cummins L9/ ZF Ecolife 1700AB	5531-5602	“Cuomo” Livery”
2019	New Flyer XE60		Electric Bus	4950-4964	“Cuomo” Livery”
2019-2020	New Flyer XD60		Cummins L9/ Allison B500R6	6126-6186	“Cuomo” Livery”
2020-2021	NovaBus LFS		Cummins L9/ ZF Ecolife 1400AB	8755-8963	“Cuomo” Livery”
2020-2021	Prevost X3-45		Volvo D13/ Allison B500R6	1300-1629	“Cuomo” Livery”
2021	NovaBus LFS Hybrid		Cummins L9/ BAE Systems HDS 200	9785-9910	“Cuomo” Livery”
2021-2022	New Flyer XD40		Cummins L9/ Allison B400R6	7851-7989	“Cuomo” Livery”
Year	Make/Model	Image	Engine/Transmission	Numbers	Livery