Van Information
Everything you need to know about dollar vans.
How To Ride
You can board dollar vans at designated stops, or hail them just like a taxi. Queens, Flatbush: you can request a drop-off anywhere along the route. Chinatown, Flushing, Sunset Park: you must board and depart at designated stops.
Van Fares
Pay your driver before or after your ride.
Queens, Flatbush: $2
Chinatown, Flushing, Sunset Park: $3-4.
Licensed Vans
Riding Licensed Dollar Vans makes your ride safer. TLC (NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission) runs background checks on all drivers. Vehicles must meet strict safety standards. Commuter Van operators must meet proper insurance and licensing requirements.
TLC-licensed Commuter Vans have visible markings:
- TLC blue diamond decals: located in each rear passenger door, the windshield and the rear door window.
- TLC-issued license plates: that either begin with T and end with C, or end with either: LV, LB, LA, or BB.
- Business information: about the van's owner and operator on the van body
Maps
View route information for dollar vans.
Dollar Van Related Research
New York’s Shadow Transit
by Aaron Reiss[D]ollar vans and other unofficial shuttles make up a thriving shadow transportation system that operates where subways and buses don’t—mostly in peripheral, low-income neighborhoods that contain large immigrant communities and lack robust public transit.
During Hurricane Sandy, when thousands in this area were left stranded, dollar vans continued to run. Anthony Campbell, a driver, told me, “The M.T.A. buses withdrew their service because they said the downed trees weren’t safe for the buses. You know, we were smaller, so we were able to travel to and from.”
NYC Major deBlasio Signs Legislation To Reform Commuter Van Industry
February 2016 (NYC Press Release / Vania Andre)The (Illegal) Private Bus System That Works
by Lisa Margonelli October 2011Dollar Van Routes Replacing Cut Bus Lines Announced
by Andrea Bernstein
Jul 2010
Stuck in the Middle: When Transit-Dependent Communities Lack Good Transit
by Stephen Miller Jan 2015New Yorkers who live close to the center of town are mostly affluent and have great transit options connecting them to a wealth of job opportunities. On the edges of town, people are not quite as well-off, and most can get to work by driving their own cars. In between are the least affluent neighborhoods, where New Yorkers rely on transit but the number of jobs accessible by train or bus is much smaller than in the city core.
Former WorkLink bus service revives as Heritage Community Transportation
by Matthew SantoniTransportation Emerges as Crucial to Escaping Poverty
by Mikayla Bouchard
May 2015
In a large, continuing study of upward mobility based at Harvard, commuting time has emerged as the single strongest factor in the odds of escaping poverty. The longer an average commute in a given county, the worse the chances of low-income families there moving up the ladder.
The relationship between transportation and social mobility is stronger than that between mobility and several other factors, like crime, elementary-school test scores or the percentagjn of two-parent families in a community, said Nathaniel Hendren, a Harvard economist and one of the researchers on the study.
Transportation Inequality in the United States: A Historical Overview
by Mikayla BouchardFalling Immigration Rates Mean Falling Transit Ridership
Immigrants comprise a large and growing segment of the population, and are twice as likely as native-born workers to commute by public transit. In California, for example, immigrants comprise just over a quarter of the population (27 percent), but more than half of all transit commuters.
Stranded: How America's Failing Public Transportation Increases Inequality
The nation’s crumbling infrastructure makes it hard for those living in poverty to access jobs, quality groceries, and good schools.
SCHOLARLY ARTICLES / STUDIES
Mobility, Economic Opportunity, and New York City Neighborhoods
by NYU Rudin Center: Sarah M. Kaufman, Mitchell L. Moss, Jorge Hernandez and Justin TyndallLimited transit access is linked to higher unemployment. Neighborhoods with some, but insufficient transit access – those in the middle third – faced higher rates of unemployment than those in the top or bottom third.
Addressing Urban Transportation Equity in the United States
by Robert D. BullardThe Impacts of Neighborhoods on Intergenerational Mobility
by Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren, Harvard University Hudson CountyBOOK
Move
Americans are stuck. We live with travel delays on congested roads, shipping delays on clogged railways, and delays on repairs, project approvals, and funding due to gridlocked leadership. These delays affect us all, whether you are a daily commuter, a frequent flyer, an entrepreneur, an online shopper, a job-seeker, or a community leader. If people can't move, if goods are delayed, and if information networks can't connect, then economic opportunity deteriorates and social inequity grows.
VIDEOS
No Vans Land
Dollar Vans: Inside NYC’s Hidden Transit System
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