The Nassau Inter-County Express ( NICE or NICE Bus ) is a local bus system that serves Nassau County, New York. It also serves the western part of Suffolk County, New York as well as the eastern part of the New York City Queens borough. It was previously operated under the name MTA Long Island Bus , the trade name of the Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority , a division of the MTA Regional Bus Operations. In 2011, the owner, Nassau County, decided to transfer the system to a private operator, French multinational corporation, Veolia Transport (now Transdev), due to a funding dispute with MTA.
Video Nassau Inter-County Express
History
Private Company (pre-1973)MTA began operating the Nassau County bus service in 1973 under the name Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority , through the merger of 11 private operators (the oblique route has been discontinued):
- Bee-Line, Inc. (N1, N4, N6, N2 *, N3 ) and its subsidiaries:
- Rockville Center Bus (N15, N16, N14 , N17 *)
- Utility Path (N19; extended to Patchogue along the current Suffolk Transit S40 route)
- Stage Line Trainers (N71, N73 , N74 , and N70 before): Note : N70 in Under the Coach Stage is a loop route from Hempstead to Levittown, Bellmore, Wantagh, and back to Hempstead. Mid-Island Transit (N78, N79, N80, N81 ): This operator was acquired by Stage Coach, which Bee-Line will acquire. Also operated by this carrier is the route from Broadway Mall today to Oyster Bay.
- Nassau Bus Lane (N31, N32, N33)
- Universal Auto Bus (N57 and N58)
(*) shows the original bus route which is now a community shuttle route
MTA Long Island Bus
In the 1980s, N28 (now discontinued), N46 (also discontinued), N50 (also discontinued), and N70 (as branch N72) were instituted as new routes, with N20 extended to Hicksville. The 1990s saw the manufacture of the shuttle around Roosevelt Field (N93, now discontinued), two transports designed to take customers from the train station to work (N94 and N95, both discontinued), and services connecting Nassau County to JFK Airport (N91, now discontinued), by the 2000s saw the Merrick shuttle (now discontinued) and N8 (now discontinued) and the N43 route was created.
In 2007, the Long Island Bus averaged more than 109,000 passengers on weekdays, many of which include customers connected to other MTA services in the region. In 2011, the MTA had an average of 101,981 passengers working days at the time of the agency exit from the operation of the service.
Privatization and NICE
In 2010, the future of the MTA Long Island Bus became uncertain, as the MTA threatened drastic cuts because of Nassau County's disproportionate minor contribution to the operation. Over the past decade, the MTA has provided a unique subsidy (for $ 24 million in 2011 and more than $ 140 million since 2000) to the Nassau County bus system that is not accepted by other suburban city bus systems in New York City. The region's contribution is $ 9.1 million per year out of a total budget of $ 133.1 million, and the MTA wants this contribution to increase to $ 26 million. Critics have noted that Westchester County subsidizes Bee-Line Bus System services for the same size of $ 33 million/year, and that Suffolk subsidizes the much smaller $ 24 million/year Suffolk County Transit system. County hopes to reduce its contribution from $ 9.1 million to $ 4.1 million using private contractors; planned regional contributions were later reduced to $ 2.5 million/year.
In March 2011, the MTA - citing Nassau's refusal to pay the contract amount - proposed a series of major service reductions that would eliminate more than half the route, with the biggest impact in southeast Nassau County, eliminating all routes operating on the south of Hempstead Turnpike and east Meadowbrook State Parkway except N71). After reviewing the service cuts plans, County Executive Ed Mangano considers breaking ties with the MTA and privatization of the Long Island Bus system. The temporary suspension, through additional state funding, will retain services until the end of 2011. However, on April 27, 2011, MTA decided to stop all bus services in Nassau County after the end of 2011. Mangano then announced that he has retained Veolia Transport to operate the system starting in 2012 through public-private partnerships pending legislative approval. On November 10, 2011, Veolia and Mangano announced that the service would be named Nassau Inter-County Express (or NICE ), after the system's takeover by Veolia. All buses, including the Able-Ride vehicle, will be painted into a new paint scheme to reflect the changes. On December 12, 2011, the legislature unanimously approved Veolia's contract, which was later approved by the state-controlled Nassau County Interim Finance Authority (NIFA) on December 22, 2011. Veolia began operations January 1, 2012. The Veolia plan is the subject of a heated public hearing in which riders and employees of Long Island Bus criticized the plan.
In February 2012, Veolia announced cuts and service adjustments took effect in April 2012. Although no route cancellation was planned, over $ 7 million of cuts for existing routes were planned, with reduced services and planned route concentration for routes primarily serving north and east of Nassau County, beginning in spring 2012, with resources directed to busy routes. These cuts eventually included a decline in service on 30 routes, including the elimination of weekend services and daytime service declines on seven routes. The cut is criticized for going too fast, just six weeks after starting the service. The Long Island Bus Rider, a transit advocacy group, criticizes sharp cuts, claiming that "service announcement adjustments on the [NICE bus] website are very unclear", that service to many healthcare and social service centers is disconnected, and that "many pieces of service NICE buses seem to be in low-income communities where more people rely on buses to work and access some of the available health care centers that serve their needs. "
In 2013, the NICE bus system gained "fortune" from New York (but not Nassau) grants of $ 5 million and $ 3 million from tariff increases for MetroCard bus drivers.
In March 2014, the NICE bus system faced another $ 3.3 million budget deficit. At that time, the bus system expects "an increase in state aid - the largest revenue stream - from $ 1.2 million."
On October 31, 2014, the Nassau County legislature adopted a 2015 budget that would increase Nassau County's contribution to the NICE bus from $ 2.6 million to $ 4.6 million by 2015 and promised not to raise tariffs beyond MetroCard tariff increases (MetroCard is controlled by Metropolitan Transportation Authority). The $ 4.6 million donation was hailed as a victory for Nassau County bus drivers, though it will still leave NICE buses with a $ 6 million operating deficit. However, on Dec. 11, 2014, Nassau County executive Ed Mangano filed a $ 4 million deduction from Nasser County's NICE bus contribution (in addition to pruning to other Nassau County services) to replace the $ 30 million that will be lost after Nassau County's closing camera camera controversial school speed.
On January 17, 2016, NICE removed fifteen routes due to budget deficits and low passenger numbers and restructured three other routes.
On June 27, 2016, NICE restored service on two routes (n80/81) and restored the other two (n14, n17) as transit.
On September 6, 2016, NICE restored service on one route (n51) and restored the other three (n2 original, n62, n73) as transit.
In December 2016, NICE announced a $ 12 million budget shortfall for FY2017 and warned of additional service cuts. The deduction was submitted to the Transit Advisory Committee, but failed to pass. A set of more severe cuts was passed in February, eliminating ten routes and reducing four more routes. Many of these routes are repaired by 2016. Additional state funding last allows services on three routes to be saved.
Maps Nassau Inter-County Express
Rates
The current rate is $ 2.75 ($ 1.35 for seniors and disabled customers) with MetroCard (including unlimited card) or coins. Students with ID receive a $ 0.25 discount on the base rate. The dollar bill is not accepted on other NICE fixed bus routes. Transfers are available on request with coins, and are included automatically with MetroCard. This transfer is valid for two hours and can be used on two connected NICE bus routes. They also apply in the Suffolk County Transit, the Long Beach Bus, the Huntington Area Rapid Transit (HART) or the New York City Transit MTA, with the following limits:
- Transfer to non-MetroCard bus only with coins.
- Transfers to the New York City Subway, or New York City Bus or Bus MTA bus service, are only available with MetroCard (express buses require additional rates).
- Transfers from Suffolk Transit, Huntington Area Rapid Transit (HART) or Long Beach Bus require a tariff payment of $ 0.25.
The Able-Ride paratransit rate is $ 3.75, payable on a definite Able-Ride ticket or fare.
Bus depot
Nassau Inter-County Express has two depots - one each for fixed routes and paratransit operations, as well as an additional depot closed in 2017.
Mitchel_Field_Depot_.28CNG.29 "> Mitchel Field Depot (CNG)
The Mitchel Field Depot (marked Senator Norman J. Levy Transit Facility on the old bus and in the building itself) is located at 700 Commercial Avenue in Uniondale, and is the headquarters and garage center for the fixed route service of Nassau Inter-County Express. The garage is named after the Mitchel Air Force Base which operated there from 1918 to 1961. All routes in this garage are shipped from this garage. It handles 40ft and 60ft articulated buses.
Stewart Avenue Depot (Able-Ride)
The Stewart Avenue Depot is located at 947 Stewart Avenue in East Garden City. All ADA Nassau County-boarded ADA shuttle service is shipped from this garage.
Rockville Depot Center (CNG)
The Rockville Center Bus depot is located at 50 Banks Avenue in Rockville Center. The garage was originally the home of Bee Line, Inc., and closed in 2017 as part of a cost-cutting move.
Fleet
The pictures shown are NICE-colored or blue-and-orange buses from Nassau County; some Orion VII Next Generation buses are still in the MTA blue line paint scheme and have not been repainted or wrapped in a NICE scheme.
All ex-MTA and non-second buses are equipped with smart bus technology from Clever Devices Ltd. based in Woodbury, which includes automatic onboard routes and stop announcements. However, Nassau Inter-County Express recently hired an Intelligent Device again to replace its original "smart bus" system in most of the fleet with on-board units and new software using GPS data to calculate the next stop announcement rather than odometer-based data with the older system. The new system will also provide maintenance with vehicle diagnostic data and provide customers and dispatchers together with real-time bus location data that can be accessed online (similar to MTA Bus Time).
Route
NICE runs a fixed route service on 35 routes, plus two trucks, serving the towns of Hempstead, North Hempstead, and the southern part of Oyster Bay, along with parts of Long Beach and Glen Cove. The non-shuttle route is set "n" to Nassau County, with services provided daily (though not all routes operate 7 days a week), and the 24-hour service provided on Merrick Road n4 and Hempstead Turnpike n4 routes.
NICE routes operate to Jamaica and Flushing, Queens operates a closed service in Queens (ie, local service is not provided solely for travel within Queens; according to NYC Transit or MTA Bus service must be used instead). There are two exceptions to this: n24, where one side of Jericho Turnpike/Jamaica Avenue is in New York City, but the other side of the road is in Hempstead City (the easterly decline begins at 225th Street, where the Jamaica Avenue maintenance state begins , and the western pickup occurs as far west as 239th Street); and n31/n32 and n33, which operates an open door in part of Far Rockaway where no other bus service is available. In addition, n33 operates a closed door in Long Beach City, where local services are provided by Long Beach Bus.
References
External links
- Nassau Inter-County Express
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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