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Shuttles to the beach getting cheaper, more convenient

It is indeed just a school bus. Photo via Rockabus.

Kelly reviewed the Rockabus shuttle to Rockaway a few weeks ago and said the whole thing was only slightly better than bringing a few beers on the subway to the beach. But the beach-bound school bus has been a success, so Rockabus announced yesterday that starting this weekend, it will be running more buses every hour (instead of every two hours), in addition to cutting the price of a roundtrip ticket from $18 to $15 (a one-way is still $10). And what’s more, they’re adding stops at notoriously hard-to-reach Jacob Riis and Fort Tilden beaches. Will this start the cries of how the lovely and relatively desolate oasis of Fort Tilden is officially over? Probably, but whatever, it had to happen eventually. It’s not the only ride out there though. 

Rockabus will provide direct service to Fort Tilden/Jacob Riis Park with buses departing Williamsburg at 10am, 12pm and 2pm and buses returning at 3:30pm, 5:30pm and 7:30pm. Regular buses to Rockaway (86th Street) will depart on the hour starting at 9:30am. All buses leave from Union & Meeker Ave.

The service has also added a Friends of Rockabus section where you can get discounts for showing your bus wristband. Deals so far include $10 off a lesson at Locals Surf School and 10 percent off a purchase at Beer Boutique  (draft beer to go) in Williamsburg.

But listen up, brokesters: while Rockabus has the hip branding thing down, you should also know that there are multiple other shuttles you can take to the beaches. There’s a mini bus (one of those nice ones they use at resorts) that we’ve taken back from Tilden that goes right to Bedford and North 7th for $6 (or if you ask nicely they’ll drop you off somewhere along the way).

If you take the 2/5 to the end of the line, a dude in a van will pick you up from the bus stop and take you right to Tilden or Riis for $3! We’ve never had a problem finding one of these by just looking around the bus stop/beach entrance.

Alexis Van Lines, for instance, tells us they’re running 15 passenger vans from Williamsburg all the way down Bedford with pickups along the way, for $6 each way.  Contact them at 917.434.1614.

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