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A bipartisan agreement by Nassau lawmakers will boost the county’s subsidy to its bus system by $2 million, freeze fares for some customers in 2015, and give NICE riders more say on issues that affect them.
The plan, included in Nassau’s newly adopted 2015 budget, increases the county’s subsidy to the Nassau Inter-County Express to $4.6 million from the previous $2.6 million. It promises to hold a ride to $2.50 for customers who pay in cash or with NICE’s mobile application, and will add four new members to the county’s Bus Transit Committee, which governs NICE.
The four new members will include two appointed by County Executive Edward Mangano, one by the Republican majority, and one by the Democratic minority. Democratic lawmakers said they plan to make their pick a riders’ representative, chosen in conjunction with the nonprofit Long Island Bus Riders Union.
“NICE Bus continues to save taxpayers millions of dollars while protecting riders from a fare hike or service cut,” Mangano said in a statement Thursday.
But the new county budget was not all good news for riders. Even with the increased subsidy, NICE still runs a deficit of about $6 million, according to figures in Mangano’s originally proposed executive budget. And Nassau’s vow to not raise fares outside of any hikes on the MTA-controlled MetroCard removes one of the county’s options to help fill the deficit.
Officials with Veolia Transportation, NICE’s parent, declined to comment Thursday.
Long Island Bus Riders Union spokeswoman Anita Halasz said she fears that, without further government subsidies, Veolia may be forced to cut service to fill a budget gap, as it has before.
“Can we not come up with a better plan?” Halasz said. “We need to be prioritizing public transportation.”
Halasz added that she was grateful that riders will soon be able to voice their concerns on the county Bus Transit Committee, even if that voice may be “diluted” by the addition of three additional Republican appointees. In total, seven of the panel’s nine members will be appointed by Mangano or the GOP majority.
“I think no rider representation is worse than some rider representation,” Halasz said. “For us, this is a victory.”
There is still a $6M deficit. How dumb do they think we are?
“NICE Bus continues to save taxpayers millions of dollars while protecting riders from a fare hike or service cut,” Mangano said in a statement Thursday.
But there have been cuts! Many routes run less often, some end earlier, those are CUTS. And you can count on more in 2015! And this doesn't even include all the buses that dont even show up due to breakdowns.
Ridership keeps going down because of the poor service. MTA was a much better value. LI Bus grew ridership every year, since NICE took over it keeps dropping every year, and that is NOT a coincidence!
I wonder if Mr.Blessinger Jr., owner of All Island Taxi, will still sit on the board? Talk about a Conflict of Interest? NICE Bus smelled fishy from the beginning, but Cuomo let Mangano get away with it because they are buddies and Kathleen Rice never investigated, thats why both of those bozos didn't get my vote today!
Like the article says, since seven of the nine members will be appointed by Mangano and his friends, you can't expect this increase in money to make a difference. It will hopefully help pay for the downed buses to get repaired and for the GPS/Clever Device system on the buses to fully operational and maintained next year, but this still doesn't mean NICE knows what they're doing. Because of the deficit, there's already service cuts confirmed next year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johninwestbury
I wonder if Mr.Blessinger Jr., owner of All Island Taxi, will still sit on the board? Talk about a Conflict of Interest? NICE Bus smelled fishy from the beginning, but Cuomo let Mangano get away with it because they are buddies and Kathleen Rice never investigated, thats why both of those bozos didn't get my vote today!
Didn't you vote for Mangano last year... you seemed pretty proud of it. A lot of good he has done daily NICE riders like yourself.
[QUOte BTI;37152469]Like the article says, since seven of the nine members will be appointed by Mangano and his friends, you can't expect this increase in money to make a difference. It will hopefully help pay for the downed buses to get repaired and for the GPS/Clever Device system on the buses to fully operational and maintained next year, but this still doesn't mean NICE knows what they're doing. Because of the deficit, there's already service cuts confirmed next year.
Didn't you vote for Mangano last year... you seemed pretty proud of it. A lot of good he has done daily NICE riders like yourself.[/quote]
Suozzi was the alternative! Still regret it though, was never proud of it, but Suozzi really was a disaster in the debates. A mistake I can own up to, unlike Mangano who will never admit the mistakes he made. And since NICE doesn't know what they are doing, those service cuts will probably be on the busier routes while the lightest routes in the system, such as the n80 & 81, are left intact. In fact, as you know, NICE has cut virtually no service from these routes. The n14 has way too many runs despite carrying nobody. Yet folks on routes like the n22,35,6, & 27 deal with less buses to try & jam onto.
Then the n21 which was cut to rush hours only, then restored as a favor, while the n27 gets runs cut.
They say the new GPS/Clever Device system will provide passenger counts, but what they do with that data is anyone's guess.
Now if they were more "efficient" they'd stop running deadheading buses all over the place, and adjust service properly. They are screwing over the whole system by refusing to eliminate wasteful routes. Routes like the n14, n62, n46, and n47. Because all of them need to go. Then there's routes with too much service, like the n80 & n81, one of those should run rush hours only. Or have them on a combined one hour headway.
And Jones Beach service was a disaster this year. That was a cash cow, until they sent the n87 from Hicksville to Freeport to fill in as one of the two n88 runs per hour. Stupid decision, and that is killing the cash cow the n88 was. n73 ends right by the entrance to Wantagh Pkwy, extend it & get rid of the n87, and have two n88's per hour shuttling between Freeport and Jones Beach.
I know we have similar ideas, and we try to express them to NICE, they dont listen, then there's the special interests that whine for service on routes that do not have ridership.
Meanwhile riders on the busiest routes such as the n4,n6,n22,etc have to get their service messed up to preserve service for the few ppl that take these loser routes. Hardly efficient at all & a failing business model. Thats why they keep losing riders. And for those Queens routes, many are so fed up they switched to the LIRR even though it costs much more. Can't say I blame them, especially when you keep getting flagged by full buses. n6 was a cash cow with LI Bus, but NICE killed it.
Last edited by nancy thereader; 01-01-2016 at 07:48 AM..
I was like "Is this a-hat kidding me?" I actually visited Nassau County for the first time in nearly 3 years this past Halloweem and I didn't take the bus from Baldwin Station to Baldwin Harbor: I walked, just like I used to when I was living there for nearly 5 years.
Last edited by Rhazula; 11-05-2014 at 02:57 AM..
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:
?" I actually visited Nassau County for the first time in nearly 3 years this past Halloweem and I didn't take the bus from Baldwin Station to Baldwin Harbor: I walked, just like I used to when I was living there for nearly 5 years.
