Hampton Jitney is ripping people off

[JohnQPine]

This involves NYC and Long Island. It really is about the huge hole in Express Bus service on Long Island, and how Hampton Jitney is ripping people off and discriminating at the same time.

I spent quite a few hours tonight redesigning Hampton Jitney's bus lines.

I found just by adding and moving a few stops, and changing fares, HJ could give the LIRR a real run for it's money.

One company, World Wide Tours, has recently done this for Northern Nassau, by charging only $9 one way on a nice luxury bus. Its cheaper than the LIRR in PEAK!

So why does Hampton Jitney feel the need to charge $30 one way? And why shut out folks traveling within LI, when often, there are few or no alternatives?

Below is a map I drew up, with just a few minor route changes to HJ's lines.

 

A list of stops

HAMPTON JITNEY REDESIGN

BUS STOP LIST

 

2-1 QUEENS-HORACE HARDING AND MAIN STREET

 

2-2 LIE SERVICE ROAD AND ROUTE 106/107

 

2-3 LIE AND HAWKINS AVE

RONKONKOMA

 

3-1 ROUTE 58 – TANGER OUTLET CENTER RIVERHEAD

 

3-2 RIVERHEAD CIRCLE

 

3-3 WESTHAMPTON

 

4-1 EAST QUOGUE

 

4-2 HAMPTON BAYS

 

4-3 JAMESPORT

 

4-4 CUTCHOGUE

 

4-5 MATITUCK

 

4-6 SOUTHOLD

 

4-7 GREENPORT

 

4-8 ORIENT

 

4-9 ORIENT POINT

 

4-10 SOUTHAMPTON

 

4-11WATER MILL

 

4-12 BRIDGEHAMPTON

4-13 EAST HAMPTON

 

4-14 SAG HARBOR

 

4-15 AMAGANSETT

 

4-16 NAPEAGUE

 

4-17 MONTAUK

 

A list of Fares

HAMPTON JITNEY REDESIGN FARE TABLE

 

BETWEEN ZONE 1 AND

ZONE 2 - $7 ($4 reduced fare)

ZONE 3 - $12 ($7 reduced fare)

ZONE 4 - $16 ($9 reduced fare)

 

WITHIN ZONE 4

$3 ($2 reduced fare)

 

BETWEEN ZONES 2,3,AND 4

$5 ($3 reduced fare)

 

*reduced fare for seniors and disabled with MTA or county issued ID

 

*metrocard accepted (pending MTA takeover)

 

 

As you can see a HUGE change from their current setup of approx $20 north fork/$30 south fork. They are making obscene profits. Think about it, take a bus that travels south fork to manhattan, assume passengers pay full price ($30, most riders are day trippers) and assume 40 seats of the 56 are full. They are getting $1200 each way (and this is of course not assuming a full bus). Fuel cant cost more than $300 each way, and assume the driver makes $20 an hour (for a max 3 hour trip). So even after subtracting gas, driver pay, and tolls , they are still making well over $900 each way.

Lets just say they lowered fares to $16 each way. More ppl would ride and lets say we got a nearly full bus. They'll get a little less, closer to $900, but, the company should still be making $500 each trip.

All these other companies, public (NJT) and private (Coach USA, Academy) manage to do fine charging less per mile than HJ, so what gives?

Read an article here http://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/driving-ambitions-rival-bus-companies-offer-dueling-luxury-coaches-to-win-over-riders-to-the-east-end-1.797859 which describes how HJ is bullying competitors.

This is a company that has forgotten one thing, that they are running BUSES.

I also did 2 videos on this. I am not going to give up on this. Long Island needs EXPRESS BUS service that is competitive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8WpbtEg9LU

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w67N-SReFYE

[Zman]

Do you honestly believe that EVERY bus carries 40 passengers? C'mon, don't be so naïeve. Some buses carry 40+ people, some will carry 10 or less.

 

And if I'm paying premium prices to ride the bus then I sure as hell don't want additional stops, nor do I want any $3 riffraff sitting next to me, thank you very much.

[ML111]

In addition, look at the primary demographics of the service (South Fork) - wealthy individuals who either work in Manhattan and commute from the Hamptons or people who have ties in the Hamptons who live in Manhattan (or Brooklyn). Part of the high retail price for the service is to attract that demographic, people tend to look at the price tag and judge not only the quality of the service, but the image of the company - since those people are what keep HJ in business, that's what they cater their service towards.

 

Also, your perspective on how they make a profit is not completely correct - you are going by average loads and returns (which is what most people go towards), which only tell half the story, you have to calculate what their margins are based on what their overhead is. HJ is a traditional carrier in the sense that their related costs are more associated with operation and maintenance in addition to insurance (which can cost anywhere between $50-$100 a day per vehicle). However the nature of the services the render force them to operate at times with 10 people or less a schedule at times (particularly during the non-summer months) to maintain their service, which yields a loss in addition to the fact that they operate with a cost structure that must include on-board amenities and the like in order to maintain the image of their service...it's basically a balancing act.

 

Of course when they make money, they make a good premium in the summer but the other 8 months of the year they usually operate at a margin.

[JohnQPine]

There certainly seems to be a need for a cheaper alternative to HJ, IMO. Just see the jam packed LIRR trains out to the Hamptons on weekends. Alot of other folks choose the train because it's cheaper.

Not everyone wants to spend $30 on a bus ride, I've actually spoken to plenty of people out there who think HJ is overpriced. The problem is the LIRR service is inadequate and there really aint much that can be done about it (single track).

HJ has made it clear they only want to service rich ppl, so there needs to be another company that will fill the gap.

[B35 via Church]

There certainly seems to be a need for a cheaper alternative to HJ, IMO. Just see the jam packed LIRR trains out to the Hamptons on weekends. Alot of other folks choose the train because it's cheaper.

Dude, ppl. choose the train b/c it's faster... the fact that it's cheaper only helps matters....

 

You make it sound like if an express bus system existed out in LI, LIRR riders (I'm not talking 2 or 3 people either... I'm talking about the masses) would abandon the train for the bus.... You don't honestly believe that do you?

 

of course non-HJ riders will complain $30+ a ride is expensive.... this envy of rich ppl. you have (and it's more apparent now than ever), it's like you hate on them (making w/e little remarks that you do about them) just b/c they're rich.... hell, let the Hamptons have their service... Worry about your own pockets instead of the next man's....

 

and... like I said on RD, these redesignings you pose before us - why does providing express bus service in LI have to come at the expense of Hampton Jitney?

No one's saying you can't have ideas.... My thing is, you use HJ's routes to base your ideas off, and then sit & complain how they're ripping ppl. off & how they're discriminating (another favorite word of yours) in the process....

[ML111]

HJ has made it clear they only want to service rich ppl, so there needs to be another company that will fill the gap.

 

There is - it is called The Hampton Luxury Liner (owned and operated by Classic/Schoolman in Bohemia) - the issue though is that the niche market they service, the upper-middle class demographic, is the only market that will provide the volume for demand and the marginal profitability to keep the service afloat.

[B35 via Church]

^^ He's going to frown upon that b/c it has the word "Hampton" in it... and you know what that symbolizes.....

[Zman]

Honestly, the need for Long Island express bus service on the East End is rather minimal when you think about the fact that the vast majority of people who live out there have cars. And having local riders using express services would seriously turn off express users, which would only erode revenue for the bus company as express riders turn to their cars instead.

 

What needs to happen is that the S92 bus line desperately needs to be split, because increased ridership, summer traffic, and the sheer length of the route has caused the line to become extremely unreliable; there should be an S92 from Riverhead to Montauk (with 45 minute intervals during the summer) and an S93 from Riverhead to Orient Point. Unfortunately the only chance of something like this happening is probably an takeover.

[traildriver]

Not mentioned in the calculations of HJ expenses is the approximately half-a-million dollar cost of one of those new Prevosts, which they must pay out of their pockets unlike the railroad which mostly has it coming out of the taxpayers pocket for capital expenses.

[DOB2RTO]

There is - it is called The Hampton Luxury Liner (owned and operated by Classic/Schoolman in Bohemia) - the issue though is that the niche market they service, the upper-middle class demographic, is the only market that will provide the volume for demand and the marginal profitability to keep the service afloat.

 

Classic Coach with the big blue Prevost H3-45, and the lovely X3-45's??????

[Locomotion69]

Rich people would go out to the Hamptons in a limo or in a helicopter... I just can't picture saying rich people and buses in the same sentence. As for Hampton Jitney, they are a business and the goal of any business is to turn a profit. Look up their earnings from last year if you can find that type of info. I wonder how much they spend on gas per round trip(150+ miles).