Our own Mercedes coach · 56 passengers
Charter bus rental in New York
A 56-seat Mercedes motor coach we own and run ourselves, with an onboard restroom, WiFi and under-floor luggage bays. Conferences, weddings, airport groups and long-distance runs.
Get your flat rate
A firm price, before you book.
A Mercedes 56-seat motor coach we own and operate
Most companies quoting you a charter bus in New York are placing the job with an operator you will never speak to. This coach is ours. It runs on our licence, it is maintained by us and driven by our own chauffeurs, so what we describe is what arrives.
Why it changes the whole trip
Washington, Boston, Philadelphia and Atlantic City are all long enough that a coach without a restroom has to stop. On fifty people, two unplanned service-area breaks are rarely under thirty minutes each.
With one on board the schedule holds, nobody is separated from the group, and the arrival time you were given is the arrival time you get.
Reclining seats, overhead storage, climate control
Forward-facing rows either side of a centre aisle, with overhead lockers for coats and hand luggage. Suitcases travel in the bays beneath the floor, so nobody spends the journey with a bag on their knees.
WiFi throughout. On a corporate run that is the difference between two hours lost and two hours worked, and it is often what justifies the coach over everyone driving themselves.
Luggage bays, and why they decide airport jobs
A delegation of forty arriving with checked bags will not fit into SUVs at any number you care to run. The bays take a full case per passenger, with hand luggage overhead inside.
If you are carrying equipment instead of suitcases — sports kit, instruments, staging, exhibition stands — send the dimensions when you enquire and we will confirm it fits before you book rather than on the morning.
New York is genuinely difficult for a full-size coach
A 56-foot vehicle is governed by rules most people have never had reason to read. These are the ones that change plans, and we work around them before you book rather than explaining them afterwards.
Coaches cannot use the parkways. A city permit exists for parkway and FDR Drive travel, but it is issued only for buses carrying students, seniors or passengers with disabilities. A commercial charter does not qualify, so the route runs on truck routes, expressways and interstates whatever your phone suggests. Our journey times already allow for it.
Lower Manhattan is the hardest part of the city. A number of streets are closed to buses outright, particularly around the Stock Exchange and the 9/11 Memorial, and parking is capped at three hours. The World Trade Center area needs its own permit, available only to groups registered with the Memorial and Museum.
A coach cannot simply wait outside. Buses may stand only in authorised spaces, metered at twenty dollars an hour with a three-hour limit, and double-parking is never permitted. Drop-off zones are for loading and nothing else. On a long event we plan a layover position rather than leaving the chauffeur circling.
Idling is limited to three minutes, one minute outside a school, and is not permitted at all in a layover space when it is above forty degrees. In practice this means a coach cannot sit with the heating or air conditioning running while it waits, which is worth knowing when you plan where guests board.
Send us the venue address when you enquire. Parts of brownstone Brooklyn, older Manhattan blocks and many hotel forecourts cannot physically take this vehicle. Where it will not fit we suggest our 28-seat mini coach or a boarding point a short walk away. Discovering it on the morning is the one failure that cannot be recovered.
The holiday season has its own rulebook
Every year the city publishes seasonal restrictions for Midtown that stay in force through the Christmas and New Year period. They change what is possible around exactly the places groups want to go.
Fifth Avenue between 32nd and 59th Streets closes to bus pick-up and drop-off entirely. Right turns off Fifth between 57th and 47th are prohibited. Park Avenue north of 42nd, the Park Avenue Viaduct at Grand Central, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Central Park drives all come off the map for buses.
What remains are designated points: the north side of 51st Street between Fifth and Sixth, and the south side of 50th between Sixth and Rockefeller Plaza. Coaches route in and out on 34th, 42nd, 57th and 66th Streets.
None of this stops a group seeing Midtown at Christmas. It does mean the boarding point will not be where you expected, and that a company quoting you without mentioning it has probably not thought about it. We confirm the current year's dates and signage before the booking is agreed.
Where a full coach earns its keep
Conferences and corporate events
Hotel-to-venue shuttles and multi-day scheduled loops on one account. Javits coaches load from the service road west of 11th Avenue, not the front of the building, which is worth knowing before you brief delegates.
Wedding guest shuttles
One coach between hotel and venue removes the risk of guests arriving mid-ceremony, and it is cheaper than most couples assume.
Airport group transfers
JFK, LaGuardia, Newark and Teterboro, with the flight tracked and the bays loaded properly rather than in a scramble at the kerb.
School and college groups
Commercially licensed chauffeurs, full insurance, and a certificate available on request for the organiser's records.
Long-distance charters
Philadelphia, Washington, Boston, Atlantic City, the Hudson Valley and the Hamptons. The restroom is what turns these into single-day trips.
Event runs
Resorts World, Atlantic City, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, plus MetLife, Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center.
Do you actually need the full coach?
Quite often the answer is no, and we would rather say so than sell you seats nobody sits in.
Under fourteen. A Mercedes Sprinter is quieter, reaches the door, and costs less. A 56-seat coach for twelve people is forty-four empty seats being paid for.
Fourteen to twenty-eight. Our Ford mini coach, which fits streets and forecourts this vehicle cannot approach and sidesteps most of the parking problem.
Twenty-nine and above. This coach, and from here it is comfortably the lowest cost per head we can quote.
More than fifty-six. The coach paired with the mini coach or a Sprinter, run to one schedule with a single point of contact, so the group still moves and arrives as one.
Hourly with a minimum, or a day rate for distance
Charters are booked hourly with a minimum, because a coach is rarely a single point-to-point run. Work outside the Tri-State area is quoted as a day rate instead.
Either way the figure is agreed before you book, and tolls, parking and permits on the agreed route are included. Nothing is added to the invoice afterwards.
Long days may need a second chauffeur. Driving hours are capped by federal rule, not by us, and an itinerary that runs past the limit needs a relief driver. We work this out while quoting rather than raising it the week before, and overnight accommodation for the chauffeur is included where a trip stays away.
Charter bus hire in New York
How many passengers does the coach seat?
Fifty-six. For groups between fourteen and twenty-eight our Ford mini coach is usually the better fit, and below fourteen a Sprinter costs less and reaches the door.
Is there a restroom on board?
Yes. It is what allows Washington, Boston, Philadelphia and Atlantic City to run without planned stops, which on a full coach usually saves the better part of an hour in each direction.
Is WiFi included?
Yes, as standard. On corporate charters it is often the reason the coach is chosen over everyone travelling separately, since the journey becomes working time.
How much luggage can it take?
The under-floor bays hold a full checked bag per passenger, with overhead lockers inside for hand luggage and coats. For equipment rather than suitcases, send us the dimensions and we will confirm before you book.
Can the coach reach our venue?
Send us the address when you enquire. Parts of lower Manhattan, older Brooklyn streets and many hotel forecourts cannot take a vehicle this size, and some lower Manhattan streets are closed to buses by law rather than by width. We check in advance and offer the mini coach or a nearby boarding point where it will not work.
Why does the route avoid the parkways?
Buses are barred from New York's parkways. A city travel permit covers parkway and FDR Drive use, but it is issued only for buses carrying students, seniors or passengers with disabilities, so a commercial charter runs on truck routes and interstates instead. Our timings already allow for this.
Where does the coach wait during our event?
In an authorised bus space, which we identify when planning the job. Buses may not double-park, may not wait in drop-off zones, and are capped at three hours in lower Manhattan. Idling rules also mean a coach cannot sit with the climate control running, so the layover position is part of the plan rather than an afterthought.
Does anything change around the holidays?
Yes. From late autumn the city restricts bus movement across much of Midtown, including pick-up and drop-off on Fifth Avenue between 32nd and 59th Streets. Boarding moves to designated points nearby. We confirm the current season's dates and signage before agreeing a December booking.
Is a coach cheaper than several Sprinters?
Above roughly twenty-eight passengers, almost always, and it is far simpler to run. One vehicle, one departure, one head count, one invoice. Below that, the mini coach or two Sprinters usually work out better.
Do you handle multi-day itineraries?
Yes. Tours and multi-day corporate programmes are regular work. Longer schedules may require a relief chauffeur to stay within federal driving-hour limits, which is built into the quote from the start.
Can you run a shuttle loop rather than a single trip?
Yes, and for weddings and conferences it is usually the better structure. We agree the timetable in advance and run to it.
Do you travel outside New York?
Regularly. New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland and Washington DC are all normal work, quoted as a day rate rather than hourly.
Ready when you are
Send the date, the journey and the passenger count. We confirm the right vehicle and a flat rate, with nothing added afterwards.
Call (800) 515-0319