Green Bus Lines

**Green Bus Lines**, also referred to simply as **Green Lines**, was a private bus company in New York City, United States. It operated local service in Queens and express service to Manhattan until January 9, 2006, when the city-operated MTA Bus Company took over its routes. It was managed most recently by Jerome Cooper (1928–2015).

Green Bus Lines routes primarily operated in the Jamaica, Ozone Park, Howard Beach, South Jamaica, and the Rockaways areas of Queens, along with service to the passenger and cargo areas of John F. Kennedy International Airport. At the time of its closure, Green Lines operated more local and limited bus routes than any other private company in the city.

Stockholders of Green Bus Lines also held control of other private bus companies in Queens and Brooklyn as Transit Alliance. These companies were Triboro Coach, Jamaica Buses, and Command Bus Company, all of which were absorbed into the MTA Regional Bus operations. The company reorganized as GTJ Reit Inc., a real estate investment trust, shortly after MTA takeover.

## History

The company was incorporated on April 3, 1925 by William Cooper (1895-1985, aged 90) and Martin Klein to provide local service in several boroughs. Cooper originally began operating a single bus line, a portion of today's Q8 101-Jerome Avenue route in 1922. The company was formed from several independently-operated bus lines, whose owners operated the buses, and would become stockholders and employees in Green Lines.

The company acquired several Manhattan routes (including the current M22, M50, M79, M86, and M96) in 1933, but these were transferred to the Comprehensive Omnibus Corporation in 1935 and New York City Omnibus Corporation in 1936. That year, Green Lines took over the operations of Liberty Bus, and the borough's bus system was divided into four lettered "zones", with each zone being served exclusively by one bus company. Green Lines was awarded the rights to all of "Zone C" in southern Queens, which included Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park, Howard Beach, and the Rockaways. With that move, Green Lines assumed the operations of seven other companies in the region. Green also acquired the Manhattan and Queens Bus Corporation, which had operated the ex-Manhattan and Queens Traction Company Queens Boulevard Line into Manhattan (the Q60) since 1937, in 1943.

Green stockholders acquired two other transit companies that continued to operate independently: Triboro Coach Corporation in October 1947, and Jamaica Buses in April 1949. Jointly these three companies formed Command Bus Company in 1979 to take over the routes that had been previously operated by Pioneer Bus Corporation, which went out of the transit bus business following a bitter strike earlier in 1979.

The QM23 was started in the 1950s to replace Long Island Rail Roadservice to the Brooklyn Manor station on the Rockaway Beach Branch.It was discontinued in 2010. Four more express routes began operation in the 1970s.

### Reorganization as real estate investment trust

Green Bus Lines, Inc.; Triboro Coach Corporation; and Jamaica-Central Railways, Inc. were each owned by individual shareholders. Jamaica-Central Railways, Inc. had a wholly owned subsidiary, Jamaica Buses, Inc. Several subsidiary corporations were owned 40 percent by Green Bus Lines, Inc.; 40 percent by Triboro Coach Corporation; and 20 percent by Jamaica-Central Railways, Inc. These jointly owned subsidiary corporations included Command Bus Company, Inc., and G.T.J. Co., Inc. (originally Varsity Transit, Inc.). Among the wholly owned subsidiaries of G.T.J. Co., Inc. was Transit Facility Management Corp., which provided Access-A-Ride paratransit service using the name TFM Paratransit; Varsity Transit, Inc. (originally Varsity Coach Corp. until 1989), which provided school bus service within the City of New York; and Varsity Coach Corp. (incorporated 1989), which provided school bus service outside the City of New York.

On June 23, 2006, GTJ REIT, Inc. was formed under the laws of Maryland as a real estate investment trust. Two weeks later, on July 7, 2006, three wholly owned subsidies of GTJ REIT, Inc. were formed: Green Acquisition, Inc.; Triboro Acquisition, Inc.; and Jamaica Acquisition, Inc.

A special meeting of the shareholders of Green Bus Lines, Inc.; Triboro Coach Corporation; and Jamaica-Central Railways, Inc. was held on March 26, 2007 for the purpose of obtaining the consent of a majority of the shareholders of each company to be merged into the GTJ REIT, Inc. subsidiaries. A majority of shareholders of each company voted in favor, and on March 29, 2007 Green Bus Lines, Inc. was merged into Green Acquisition, Inc.; Triboro Coach Corporation was merged into Triboro Acquisition, Inc.; and Jamaica-Central Railways, Inc. was merged into Jamaica Acquisition, Inc. Shareholders exchanged their old shares in the bus companies for new shares in GTJ REIT, Inc. Command Bus Company, Inc. and Varsity Coach Corp. were both dissolved on January 21, 2010. Jamaica Buses, Inc. was dissolved on May 13, 2010.

During 2011 and 2012, the Company underwent a process of shedding all businesses and assets that were no longer compatible with its real estate focus.

In January 2013, the Company closed on a transaction with a privately held joint venture in which the Company acquired ownership interests in a portfolio of 25 commercial properties located in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. As a result of subsequent acquisitions, the company owns 45 properties, approximately 5 million square feet and 338 acres of land.

GTJ REIT, Inc. is headquartered in West Hempstead, N.Y. Its portfolio of real estate investments includes the four garages (JFK Depot, LaGuardia Depot, Baisley Park Depot and the Far Rockaway Depot's older building) once used for transit bus operations, all of which are leased to the City of New York for use as bus garages by MTA Bus Company.

## Bus routes

Just prior to MTA Bus takeover, Green Bus lines operated the following routes, which mostly continued to be based in Far Rockaway Bus Depotand John F. Kennedy Bus Depot. Hubs for Green Lines operations included 165th Street Bus Terminal in Jamaica, the Mott Avenue subway station in Far Rockaway, and several stations on the IND Queens Boulevard Line.

## Depots

*See also: Bus depots of MTA Regional Bus Operations*
### Original Idlewild depot

Green Bus Lines' first southeast Queens depot (also known as Cornell Park) was located at 149th Street and 147th Avenue (148-02 147th Avenue) in what was then South Ozone Park, Queens. The facility, which contained an office building and a bus garage, opened in May 1939 at a cost of $250,000. This area has since been de-mapped and is now on the grounds of John F. Kennedy International Airport.

### Second Idlewild/JFK depot

*Main article: John F. Kennedy Depot*
Green Lines' second southeast Queens garage was located in Jamaica at 147th Avenue and Rockaway Boulevard (165-25 147th Avenue) near JFK Airport. The depot was built from 1951 to 1952 at the cost of $500,000. It was the primary storage and maintenance facility for the company. It is now the John F. Kennedy Depot (or JFK Depot) of MTA Bus. Its coordinates are 40.661348°N 73.773916°W

### Rockaway Garage

*Main article: Far Rockaway Depot*
Green Lines operated a facility on the Rockaway Peninsula, situated on Rockaway Beach Boulevard and Beach 49th Street (49-19 Rockaway Beach Boulevard) in the neighborhood of Arverne. It was sometimes referred to as the "Rockaway Garage". A satellite facility, it primarily housed buses serving the Rockaways and southern Queens, performing light maintenance work. It is now MTA Bus' Far Rockaway Depot.

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `ChiRailFan-NYCTRoutes`
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Queens Merchants Win More Bus Service (March 17, 1989).
3. ↑ mta.info | Planned Service Changes (April 27, 2010).
4. ↑ Bus Company Committee Meeting February 2010. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (February 2010).
5. ↑ 2008 Annual Report Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the Year Ended December 31, 2008. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (December 31, 2008).
6. ↑ Upcoming 2014 Bus Service Improvements Include New Routes, Extensions: $4.9 Million in Enhancements Planned for Routes in All Five New York City Boroughs. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (August 26, 2014).
7. ↑ MTA Bus Company Service Advisories (Metropolitan Transportation Authority; April 2008)
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Q89 Bus Schedule. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (2008).
9. ↑ https://www.webcitation.org/5wlPW150v?url=http://mta.info/news/pdf/MTAB\_Revised\_Service\_Changes.pdf 2010 budget cut information-MTA Bus Company, archived February 25, 2011
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Analysis of Routes and Ridership of a Franchise Bus Service: Green Bus Lines. City College of New York (October 2000).
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Queens Bus Map: Notes. mta.info (December 2002).
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Queens Bus Map. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (September 1999).
13. ↑ mta.info | Planned Service Notices: JFK Airport Terminal 4 Bus Stop Relocation (May 31, 2012).
14. ↑ MTA Bus Service Changes. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (June 2011).
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Planned Service Changes: Effective Sunday, July 1, 2012. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (2012).
16. ↑ Goldfeder Asks MTA For Q53 Public Input. Wave of Long Island (May 25, 2012).
17. ↑ MTA Q11 Hamilton Beach service change. Leader-Observer (June 8, 2012).
18. ↑ MTA Bus Service Changes. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (December 2008).
19. ↑ MTA Bus Extends Q21 Route To Queens Boulevard. Wave of Long Island (September 5, 2008).
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Queens Tribune – DOT Eyes New Bus Route To Rockaways. Arverne by the Sea (May 18, 2012).
21. ↑ MTA Creating Arverne Bus Service. Wave of Long Island (November 18, 2011).
22. ↑ Planned Service Changes: Q21 Rerouted to Arverne and Introduction of Weekday Peak Period Limited-Stop Service. Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
23. ↑ Template:Cite news
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 New York Times, Rockaway Bus Line Extends Service, July 3, 1937, page 17
25. ↑ Template:Cite news
26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Appendix B: Route Profiles. New York City Department of Transportation.
27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Template:Cite news
28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Fewer Stops On MTA Rockaway Express Buses. The Wave of Long Island (August 11, 2006).
29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 NEWS BRIEFS. Queens Courier (April 19, 2011).
30. ↑ Extended Route For QM16 Bus Announced. Wave of Long Island (August 24, 2007).
31. ↑ Bus Timetable: QM16/QM1& Spring 2011. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Spring 2011).
32. ↑ Move QM 16 Back. Wave of Long Island (December 16, 2011).