Monsey Trail is a private

bus company A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used i ...

plying a publicly licensed route based in

Rockland County, New York Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population is 338,329, making it the state' ...

. It is operated by the Jewish Lunger family of the Skver Hasidic sect in

New Square New Square () is an all-Hasidic village in the town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Hillcrest, east of Viola, south of New Hempstead, and west of New City. As of the 2020 United States census, i ...

. The publicly subsidized carrier uses a fleet of about 60 coach buses, a few of which are publicly owned by

Rockland County Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population is 338,329, making it the state's ...

and leased to Monsey, running about 75 scheduled daily commuter trips. While the county-owned

Transport of Rockland The Transport of Rockland (TOR) is the bus system for Rockland County, New York, providing service along major routes in Rockland County, as well as connections to Clarkstown Mini-Trans in Clarkstown, Spring Valley Jitney in Spring Valley, the ...

provides local service and connects commuters with rail transit to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Monsey Trails, along with Short Line, provides private bus service between the suburbanized region and the area's principal city, New York City. A subsidiary, Monsey Tours, provides charter service. The company's primary area of service is in the heavily

Haredi Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...

west-central portion of the county, and much of the company's literature is printed in both English and

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

. Routes originate in Monsey, a community with a strong Orthodox Jewish but somewhat diverse population, and

, a

Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

village. Many routes also travel to the heavily Haredi Jewish Brooklyn neighborhoods of

Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...

and

Boro Park Borough Park (also spelled Boro Park) is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of the borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, in New York City. The neighborhood is bordered by Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Bensonhurst to the south, Dyker Heigh ...

. Another route connects Monsey and New Square with Kiryas Joel, an exclusive Satmar Hasidic community in Orange County. Monsey Trails made the news in 1994, when a Jewish woman filed a

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

suit A suit, also called a lounge suit, business suit, dress suit, or formal suit, is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles generally worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt su ...

against the company, after she was told by Haredi Jewish passengers to leave a men’s section. The dispute raised questions about how far a company which receives government financing can go in accommodating religious practices. Monsey Trails received mass transit subsidies from New York State amounting to nearly $650,000 in 1993, roughly a quarter of the company's annual revenue. The suit resulted in an

out-of-court settlement In law, a settlement is a resolution between disputing parties about a legal case, reached either before or after court action begins. A collective settlement is a settlement of multiple similar legal cases. The term also has other meanings in ...

, in which Monsey Trails agreed not to actively segregate male and female riders for Jewish prayers, and neither to provide a

curtain A curtain is a piece of cloth or other material intended to block or obscure light, air drafts, or (in the case of a shower curtain) water. Curtains are often hung on the inside of a building's windows to block the passage of light. For instan ...

to separate the male passengers from women, nor advertise daily prayers in its timetables, as they had done before.

Lakewood Express

Monsey Trails also operates service between

Lakewood, New Jersey Lakewood Township is the most populous township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A rapidly growing community, as of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 135,158, its highest decennial count ever and ...

and Brooklyn under the Lakewood Express brand. This service was previously operated by Darkanu Bus Company until it shut down after an accident, and Monsey assumed the route.

The Baltimore Line

Monsey Trails used to operate service between Pikesville, Maryland and Brooklyn under the Baltimore Line brand. A bus that departed once a week from 14th Ave & 53rd St in Brooklyn, and arrives at 7 Mile Market in Pikesville, Maryland. A bus also used to depart once a week from 7 Mile Market in Pikesville and returned to Brooklyn at 14th Ave & 53rd St. It has since been discounted due to low demand to the bus route.

Routes

References

External links

Monsey TrailsLakewood ExpressThe Baltimore Line
{{NYC surface transit Bus transportation in New York (state) Surface transportation in Greater New York