Where Long Island paratransit doesn't go: a town-by-town gap map

Key findings

1. Nassau's gaps are on NICE's own list. NICE says Able-Ride does not serve Syosset, Bayville, Oyster Bay, Lido Beach, Point Lookout, Locust Valley and Sands Point, and serves only part of Valley Stream, Woodmere, Old Bethpage, Hicksville, Long Beach, Glen Cove, Plainview and Lawrence. The center of Oyster Bay is 4.7 miles from the nearest NICE stop, and 12% of its households have no car, against 6.8% countywide.
2. Able-Ride's hours are the bus's hours. Of the 61 Nassau town centers with a NICE stop within 3/4 mile, 10 have no Sunday bus there and 5 have no Saturday bus. In Bellmore, Bethpage, Merrick, Plainview and Woodbury, the nearby buses run on weekday mornings and late afternoons only, with a gap of more than two hours in between.
3. SCAT reaches almost everywhere in Suffolk, but not at every hour. SCAT serves any two points in the county except Shelter Island and trips inside the Town of Huntington. Its earliest and latest service, though, only reaches points within 3/4 mile of a running Suffolk Transit bus, and 11 of the 63 Suffolk communities outside the Town of Huntington have no stop that close to their center.
4. The Town of Huntington has a Sunday hole. HART paratransit runs weekdays and Saturdays only. Because SCAT does not take trips that begin and end inside the town, a Sunday paratransit ride from Huntington Station to Huntington village has no public provider under the agencies' published rules.
5. A Suffolk route change lands on October 25, 2026. Routes 77 and 77Y become the South Country On-Demand zone. Bellport's town center goes from 6 fixed-route stops within 3/4 mile to 0, and SCAT's page does not say whether On-Demand zones count as bus service for its early and late trips.
6. The county line still means two vans and two fares. Apart from a few areas near NICE routes, a paratransit trip between Nassau and Suffolk, or from Nassau into most of New York City, means changing vehicles at a transfer point and paying each system.

First, what paratransit is and how its map works

Able-Ride, SCAT and HART are ADA complementary paratransit: shared-ride service for people whose disability prevents them from using the regular bus for some or all trips. You apply and are approved before your first ride. HART also enrolls Town of Huntington residents 60 and older who do not drive, at a lower priority than riders found eligible under the ADA. Living in a well-served town does not make you eligible, and living in a gap does not make the bus any easier to use.

Federal rules tie paratransit to the bus network in two ways. Under 49 CFR 37.131, the service area is a corridor 3/4 mile wide on each side of each fixed bus route, and the service must run during the same hours and days as the buses. The same section does not require an agency to serve areas outside its own jurisdiction where it has no legal authority to operate. Each county runs its own system, and riders change vans at the county line.

This report measures each community from one point, its town center, the same point our town pages use. Large hamlets stretch for miles, so part of a community marked as a gap can sit inside the 3/4-mile band, and part of a well-served one can sit outside it. Treat the map as a guide to where to ask questions, then check your own address with the agency.

Nassau: where Able-Ride says it does not go

NICE publishes its own gaps. Its How to Ride page lists 7 areas with no Able-Ride service and its July 2026 Riders Guide lists 8 with partial service. Point Lookout and Sands Point are not among the communities measured here; the rest are. Three more Nassau communities, Brookville, East Rockaway and Old Westbury, are not on either list but have no NICE stop within 3/4 mile of their center. In Brookville the n20H runs right through the center, but its closest stop is about 1.3 miles away; because the federal corridor is measured from the route, Brookville may still be inside Able-Ride's area, so call NICE to check.

Most of these sit on the North Shore, from Sands Point to Syosset; Lido Beach and Point Lookout are on the barrier beach east of Long Beach. In Oyster Bay, 12% of households have no car, and the center is 4.7 miles from a NICE stop. In Lido Beach, 32.3% of residents are 65 or older, against 18.7% across Nassau. Bayville is 4.6 miles from the nearest stop.

Nassau: when Able-Ride can pick you up

NICE's rider guide is plain about hours: whenever a fixed-route bus is running, Able-Ride is available, and when there is no bus, there is no Able-Ride. Most Nassau town centers have buses nearby from early morning to late at night, and 10 have service around the clock on weekdays. The chart shows the 12 town centers where the window is narrower, built from NICE's schedule data effective September 13, 2026. Filled bars are the hours when a NICE bus is scheduled within 3/4 mile of the center.

Three patterns stand out. Weekend gaps: Atlantic Beach, Bellmore, Bethpage, East Hills, Glen Head, Inwood, Merrick, Plainview, Seaford and Woodbury have no Sunday bus near the center, and Bellmore, Bethpage, East Hills, Glen Head and Merrick have no Saturday bus either. Midday gaps: in Bellmore, Bethpage, Merrick, Plainview and Woodbury, the nearby routes run in the morning and late afternoon on weekdays, so a 1 PM appointment can fall in the gap. And early evenings: in those same communities the last nearby weekday bus is before 8 PM. For a rider who relies on Able-Ride, the schedule of the closest bus route is the schedule of their paratransit.

A rider's own address may be near a different route with longer hours, so ask Able-Ride at 516-228-4000 which times it can serve before you book a recurring appointment.

Suffolk: SCAT covers the county, with two catches

SCAT's service area is much wider than Able-Ride's. Suffolk County Transit says SCAT runs between any two points in the county (Monday to Saturday 5 AM to 10 PM, Sunday 6 AM to 8 PM), except Shelter Island and trips that begin and end in the Town of Huntington. For most Suffolk riders, distance from a bus route does not decide whether SCAT comes.

Catch one: the earliest and latest trips

SCAT's own FAQ says earlier morning and later evening service is only available to and from points within 3/4 mile of a Suffolk Transit bus that is running at the time. SCAT does not publish where its core day begins and ends. These 11 Suffolk communities outside the Town of Huntington have no fixed-route stop within 3/4 mile of the center:

• Montauk: 13.9 miles to the nearest stop, inside the East Hampton On-Demand zone
• Westhampton: 4 miles to the nearest stop
• Miller Place: 1.3 miles to the nearest stop
• Saint James: 1.3 miles to the nearest stop
• East Setauket: 1.2 miles to the nearest stop
• Fort Salonga: 1.2 miles to the nearest stop
• Bohemia: 1.1 miles to the nearest stop
• Mount Sinai: 0.9 miles to the nearest stop
• Yaphank: 0.9 miles to the nearest stop (a route passes 0.3 miles away without stopping nearby)
• Sound Beach: 0.8 miles to the nearest stop
• Stony Brook: 0.8 miles to the nearest stop

Montauk is the extreme case: 13.9 miles from the nearest fixed-route stop, at East Hampton's LIRR station, where Route 92 ends. We checked this against Suffolk Transit's current schedule data and route list, and it holds. Montauk does have public transit, though: it sits inside Suffolk Transit's East Hampton On-Demand zone, shared rides booked by app or at 631-818-2982 between any two points in the zone, daily from 6 AM to 8 PM. Westhampton, 4 miles from the nearest stop and outside any zone, has neither, and 33% of its residents are 65 or older.

Two more Suffolk communities depend on a single limited route. Kings Park's only nearby route, Route 56, runs weekdays from 9:15 AM to 3:25 PM; Suffolk Transit plans to replace it with a Kings Park On-Demand zone, launch date to be announced. Farmingville's center is served by Route 52B on weekdays only.

Catch two: the Town of Huntington

The Town of Huntington runs its own paratransit, HART, and SCAT does not carry trips that begin and end inside the town. HART's user guide sets its hours at weekdays 6:55 AM to 7 PM and Saturdays 9 AM to 6:55 PM, with no service on Sundays or the major holidays it lists. HART takes requests for any address in the town, but says its paratransit is more available within 3/4 mile of a HART or Suffolk Transit route. Besides riders found eligible under the ADA, HART enrolls town residents 60 and older who do not drive, at a lower priority. HART's four fixed routes, H10, H20, H30 and H40, fill in where Suffolk Transit buses do not reach.

The result is a Sunday hole. A Huntington Station resident going to Huntington village on a Sunday has no paratransit option under the published rules: HART is closed and SCAT does not take the trip. The same rider going to Smithtown or Hauppauge can book SCAT. In Huntington Station, 14.2% of residents live with a disability, above the Suffolk figure of 10.5%.

What changes on October 25, 2026

After public hearings on September 9, Suffolk County Transit is replacing Routes 77 and 77Y with the South Country On-Demand zone, effective Sunday, October 25, 2026. The zone serves Patchogue, East Patchogue, Bellport, North Bellport and part of Medford, daily from 6 AM to 8 PM, with rides between any two points in the zone. Route 77 runs hourly from Patchogue LIRR to Bellport by way of NYU Langone Hospital, seven days a week, and the 77Y is a weekday peak-hour route to Yaphank.

For paratransit, the change matters most in Bellport. Route 77 provides all 6 fixed-route stops within 3/4 mile of Bellport's center; afterward there are 0. SCAT still serves Bellport during its regular day. What is not clear from SCAT's page is whether an On-Demand zone counts as Suffolk Transit bus service for its earliest and latest trips, so riders who travel at the edges of the day should ask SCAT when they book. Patchogue keeps plenty of fixed-route service either way.

Crossing the county line

Each paratransit system mostly stays inside its own county or town. The transfer rules below come from NICE's How to Ride page, its July 2026 Riders Guide and its letters on direct service into Suffolk (2023) and Queens (2023 and 2024), Suffolk County Transit's SCAT page and the MTA.

Our guide to Able-Ride and SCAT covers how to apply, booking windows and what each transfer is like in practice.

What this means if you or a parent needs rides

• Check the address, not the town. Call Able-Ride at 516-228-4000, SCAT at 631-738-1150 or HART at 631-427-8287 and ask whether your pickup and the destination are both inside the service area at the times you need.
• Match the appointment to the bus. In Nassau, Able-Ride follows the nearest bus schedule. Before you accept a weekend, midday or evening appointment, ask whether the trip is possible at that hour.
• Apply early. All three systems require approval before your first ride, and NICE and Suffolk each allow up to 21 days to decide on a complete application.
• With Medicaid, medical rides go through MAS. Medical Answering Services arranges New York Medicaid transportation, and authorized trips cost the member nothing; the Downstate contact center for Nassau and Suffolk is 1-844-666-6270. You can ask MAS for a provider such as DachiPlus by name: MAS sets the type of transportation first, then considers your choice. For recurring treatment, the member's medical provider's office requests a standing order through the MAS portal, for up to six months at a time.
• Paying privately. Fares are priced by distance from our published rates; check your route in the fare estimator.

DachiPlus is a private company, not part of NICE, Suffolk County Transit or HART. We drive riders who walk and wheelchair users who can move to a car seat, door to door, with no transfer at the county line and no shared route. For riders who need to stay in their wheelchair, we arrange the trip through licensed wheelchair-van partners as part of our ambulette service. For everything else on getting to care without a car, see our guides to getting to medical care without driving and how to get around Long Island without a car.

Town-by-town results

Every community in the report with its paratransit program, what the data shows at the town center, the nearest fixed-route stop, the number of stops within 3/4 mile, the hours buses run nearby, and Census figures. Each name links to that community's page. The CSV has the same rows plus the route list, the distance to the nearest route line and the October 25 Suffolk figures.

Download the town table (CSV, 141 communities)

Methodology

Communities. The 141 Nassau and Suffolk communities in our service area (70 in Nassau, 71 in Suffolk), each measured from one center point, the same point our town pages use.

Bus routes and stops. The agencies' own GTFS schedule feeds: NICE (schedules effective September 13, 2026), Suffolk County Transit (fetched October 2026) and HART (511NY's copy of the Town of Huntington feed, valid through January 2, 2027). Only stops that a scheduled trip serves are counted. NICE's MINI Mile pilot in East Meadow and Bellmore, which mixes a shuttle with on-demand pickups, is left out of the fixed-route measure, as are Suffolk's On-Demand zones, which have no fixed stops.

Distance. Straight-line miles from the town center to the nearest served stop, and the number of served stops within 3/4 mile. Paratransit rules measure the corridor from the route itself, so the CSV also gives the distance to the nearest route line. The two agree within 0.3 mile everywhere except Brookville and Yaphank, where a route passes the center without a nearby stop.

Hours. For each day type, the scheduled times at every stop within 3/4 mile of the center, grouped by route. A route is treated as running from its first to its last scheduled bus, split wherever it has no bus for more than 2 hours, and the routes are then combined. In Nassau this approximates Able-Ride's window at the town center; in Suffolk it shows when SCAT's 3/4-mile rule for early and late trips is met.

Paratransit rules. NICE's How to Ride page and July 2026 Riders Guide (service area, areas not served or partly served, hours, transfers), Suffolk County Transit's SCAT and On-Demand pages and its Fall 2026 service changes, and the Town of Huntington's HART pages and paratransit user guide, all checked in October 2026.

Census. American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates (tables B01001, B25044 and B18101) for the matching village or Census place, or the ZIP code where no place matches.

The numbers on this page and in the CSV are computed by a script, so they can be rebuilt when the agencies publish new schedules. No DachiPlus trip, rider or company data is used.

Limitations

• A town center is not your front door. Check your own pickup and destination addresses with the agency.
• NICE's partial-service list does not say which streets are left out, and its web page and Riders Guide differ by one community (the guide adds Plainview).
• Schedules change. NICE adjusts service quarterly, and Suffolk's October 25 change and the planned Kings Park zone will change the Suffolk figures.
• Holidays, detours and trips that only run on some weekdays are not modeled. The two-hour rule for midday gaps is a judgment; a route with a gap just under two hours is shown as running.
• Distances use a flat-map approximation that runs a fraction of a percent short of great-circle distance. That only matters at the 3/4-mile edge: Bethpage's single NICE stop in range sits right on it, so Bethpage's place in the weekend and midday counts depends on a few feet.
• Express routes are counted where they stop. Where a route runs past without stopping, the stop distance overstates the gap.
• The agencies decide eligibility and service area trip by trip. This report describes their published rules and schedules; it is not an eligibility tool.
• ACS figures are survey estimates with margins of error, which are widest for small villages.

How to cite this report

Journalists, researchers, disability advocates and community groups are welcome to use the figures and the CSV with credit and a link to this page. For questions about the data, contact us.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• NICE: Able-Ride, How to Ride (service area, areas not served or partly served, transfers)
• NICE: Able-Ride Riders Guide, July 2026 (service area, service hours, transfers east and west)
• NICE: Able-Ride expanded service into Suffolk County, letter of June 21, 2023
• NICE: Able-Ride expanded service to Far Rockaway, Queens, letter of August 22, 2023
• NICE: Able-Ride expanded service to Jamaica and Flushing, Queens, letter of December 1, 2023
• NICE: MINI and MINI Mile (on-demand pilot left out of the fixed-route measure)
• NICE: GTFS schedule feed
• Suffolk County Transit: SCAT paratransit (service area, hours, early and late service)
• Suffolk County Transit: On-Demand zones
• Suffolk County Transit: Fall 2026 service changes (Routes 77 and 77Y, Route 56)
• Suffolk County Transit: 2026 service change public hearing presentation, September 9, 2026
• Suffolk County Transit: GTFS schedule feed
• Town of Huntington: HART fixed routes
• Town of Huntington: HART Paratransit User's Guide (hours, service area)
• Town of Huntington: HART paratransit fares and contact
• HART GTFS schedule feed (511NY copy)
• MTA: Access-A-Ride transfer locations to neighboring paratransit services
• eCFR: 49 CFR 37.131, service criteria for complementary paratransit
• U.S. Census Bureau: ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01001 (age)
• U.S. Census Bureau: ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25044 (vehicles available)
• U.S. Census Bureau: ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B18101 (disability status)
• MAS: Contact Center numbers by region
• MAS: New York Medicaid transportation (authorized trips at no cost; booking guidelines)
• NYS DOH: Medicaid Transportation Standing Order Policy, effective October 1, 2020 (published by MAS)
• eMedNY: NYS Medicaid Transportation Policy Manual (broker assigns by mode first, then enrollee choice)