OurBus, a bus service frequented by Binghamton University students, added new stops to its Binghamton to New York City weekend route.

Founded in 2016, OurBus originally catered to suburban commuters who frequently traveled between New Jersey and Manhattan for work. Long-distance routes to more cities like Binghamton and Ithaca were added later on in order to maximize profits and efficiency.

The new expansion includes additional stops in Nanuet, Middletown, Fresh Meadows in Queens and Melville on Long Island, announced Axel Hellman, one of the co-founders of OurBus.

According to Hellman, the new weekend route was created based on observations of student demand and usage during the holidays.

“It’s not just New York, but we’ll do I believe 10 different routes for the Binghamton breaks,” Hellman said. “So we know, okay, if there’s a given break, 10,000 students leave Binghamton. Of them, maybe 100 or 200 are going to Long Island, right? So we’re already running these at the very busiest times. The thought is, there’s also students who go home for the weekend, right? Fewer of them each weekend, but it’s still an important travel need.”

In addition to the new weekend route, OurBus is offering another route that will operate during breaks and extend all along the south shore of Nassau County, reaching the Long Island towns of Bellmore, Rockville Center, Valley Stream and Queens Village, Queens.

The company has also started accommodating students observing Jewish holidays by offering routes that transport passengers before and after sunset in response to requests from families who explained their travel needs.

Hellman also announced that another OurBus route in the works for Binghamton, where students will be able to travel to Toronto, Canada by connecting through Buffalo. Hellman told Pipe Dream that the idea behind the route is to facilitate weekend getaways for students to experience and explore a new city.

In determining where the new stops would be located, Hellman explained that he has spoken directly with parents of the students, as well as looked at past data to ensure where to go.

“They value the convenience of a pickup that doesn’t require going to Manhattan, because usually if you’re going to Manhattan, you’re probably taking a train or a subway and the ticket price difference isn’t that much more,” Hellman said. “And then from Nanuet and Middletown, that’s already northwest of the city. For those people to go into the city to catch the bus and then to go up just to go back out, it makes the trip an hour or even two hours longer.”