The S79 Select Bus Service constitutes a bus route in Staten Island and Brooklyn, New York, running primarily on Richmond Avenue, Hylan Boulevard, and Narrows Road in Staten Island, and 92nd Street, Fourth Avenue, 86th Street, and Fort Hamilton Parkway in Brooklyn. It is based at the Yukon Depot.
The S78 and S79 were originally one route, but were split in 1990. In 2012, the S79 was converted to Select Bus Service, the first and now-only route in Staten Island to do so. It is the busiest bus route in Staten Island, serving 2.4 million riders in 2022.
Route description and service
The S79 begins at Ring Road and Marsh Avenue, near Staten Island Mall, and uses Ring Road to access Platinum Avenue, and then Richmond Avenue, while buses heading to the mall uses Ring Road and Marsh Avenue to access the terminus. It then continues along Richmond Avenue until it turns to Hylan Boulevard. It then goes along the boulevard for most of the length until it turns to Steuben Street and then Narrows Road, and then goes on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and uses exit 17 to access 92nd Street, and turns right onto 4th Avenue from 92nd Street, and then continues until it ends at 86th Street, near the 86th Street station on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line, which is served by the . Buses heading to Staten Island use 86th Street and Fort Hamilton Parkway to access the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
This route uses rigid 40-foot Nova LFS diesel buses, it used to use Orion VII NG Hybrid buses. The S79 is the only SBS line that does not utilize off-board fare collection; when the service was converted to an SBS route in 2012, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) had determined that off-board fare collection was unnecessary since the route's boarding times were short enough. Additionally, it was the only SBS line in the 5 boroughs that did not use 60-foot articulated buses before the B46 SBS was introduced as well as the only SBS line to not have blue destination signs until July 2017. Riders must pay the fare on board, as they do on local, limited-stop, and express buses.
Stops
History
The S79 was originally the R103, which ran between St. George Ferry Terminal Ramp "E" and Tottenville. In 1975, it was renumbered the S103. In September 1980, every other S103 bus was rerouted along Richmond Avenue to terminate at the Staten Island Mall, providing service from Staten Island's South Shore. At the same time, every other S102 bus was rerouted to the Mall, providing North Shore service. On January 4, 1987, as part of reductions in bus service on seven routes across the city, S103 service was decreased. While fewer short-run trips to Hylan Boulevard in Eltingville would operate, more frequent service would be operated on the branch to the Staten Island Mall. On April 15, 1990, the S103 was split into two routes; the S78 assumed the Tottenville service, while the S79 assumed the Staten Island Mall service.
On June 26, 1992, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board voted to approve a service change to reroute the northern terminal of the route from Saint George Ferry Terminal to 86th Street and Fourth Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn effective in September. The route would be revised to run via Steuben Street, Narrows Road North, and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. Simultaneously, the B8 would be extended to 92nd Street to allow S79 riders to get to the Brooklyn Veterans Administration Hospital with a transfer. The proposed change was opposed by some store owners in Brooklyn and Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden, who believed the route would lead Brooklyn shoppers to shop at the Staten Island Mall instead of at Bay Ridge stores. The change took effect on September 13, 1992 as part of the New York City Transit Authority's Fare Deal improvements program.