Privatization of Nassau County Bus- A Dangerous Operation- Pt. 1 Veolia Transportation

I got this brochure from Long Island Jobs with Justice from People`s Hearing in Garden City. LI Job with Justice did research on Veolia, First Transit and MV Transportation.

To cut this short, I will separate into three parts.

Executive Summary

After a long battle with the , Nassau County has decided to move forward with pursuing private operators. At the behest of Nassau County, the voted to end their contract with the County in late April of 2011, leaving Nassau to figure out details of their bus operations. County Executive Ed Mangano has put together a "secret" committee to decide the future of bus operations in Nassau County.

While Nassau County ultimately wants to pay as little as $4 million a year and keep the same services as they had under a public operator, the public has seen no proof of the potential sucess of such a plan, nor has anyone seen any of the three private companies plans to move forward.

However, after investigating the three private companies---Veolia Transportation, First Transit, and MV Transportation--- that have submitted Requests for Proposals and are being seriously considered, there are some reservations about the ability of the companies at hand to provide quality service for all Long Islanders. With abuses that range from service fines and interruptions, disregard for local laws and abuse of disable riders; none of the private operators are fit to adequately service Nassau County.

Veolia Transportation

Veolia Transportation, a Paris-based multi national corporation, has a presence on every continent except Africa and Antartica. In the U.S., Veolia operates in 14 citizes. And in a number of cities where they operate, Veolia has been charged with fines for bad service and avoidable accidents.

Service Fines, Disregard for Local Laws

Veolia promises to provide "orderly" transitions between bus operators, bragging about their ability to operate with unions and the number of cities that have switched providers. However, after transitioning to Veolia in January of 2011 the City of Phoenix, Arizona was pretty unhapppy with their service. So unhappy, in fact, that the city fined Veolia $3.3 million dollars for having late, broken, and unkempt buses. When a bus arrives ten minutes late, the company gets a $40 fine. To acquire such fines in a period of three months, buses must have arrived late to bus stops nearly 50,000 times.

Poor service is not limited to Phoenix, or even to the United States. In Wales,UK Veolia was fined 33,00 Euros for arriving late to stops, and cut its service from 396 to 277 vehicles. These fines are nothing in comparison to Austrailia, where the company was charged $15 million for late trains & trams.

Additionally, California EPA fined Veolia because of their failure to properly self-inspect their diesel trucks and subsequent violation of the Periodic Smoke Inspection Program.

Safety

In the Veolia-operated Metrolink of Chatsworth, California, 26 people were killed and 135 injured during a head-on-collision in 2008. The crash was the deadliest in Metrolink`s history. Soon after the accident, Veolia was forced to pay $200 million to the victims of the crash. To add insult to injury, Veolia repeatedly refused to meet with the victims and families until February of 2011, nearly 3 years later. Victims and their families are currently suing Veolia to demand a higher settlement. While Veolia blamed the accident on the Engineer, the company`s poor treatment of employees across the world drastically increases the likelihood of accidents.

In York, February of 2011, bus drivers threatended to strike if Veoila did not reach a favorable agreement with the workers. Currently, bus drivers have no sick days, which is a huge safety risk for the drivers, riders and entire community. The employees are the lowest paid-transit workers in the Greater Toronto Area.

Pt. 2: First Transit

Pt. 3: MV Transportation

In York, February of 2011, bus drivers threatended to strike if Veoila did not reach a favorable agreement with the workers. Currently, bus drivers have no sick days, which is a huge safety risk for the drivers, riders and entire community. The employees are the lowest paid-transit workers in the Greater Toronto Area.

It's interesting that Veolia's employees under the York Region Transit contract "are the lowest-paid transit workers in the Greater Toronto Area" given that YRT's fares are the highest in all of Canada.

It's interesting that Veolia's employees under the York Region Transit contract "are the lowest-paid transit workers in the Greater Toronto Area" given that YRT's fares are the highest in all of Canada.

I never knew Canada was the same as New York or the United States! Thanks for this very informative and useful post, because I never knew that pay rates for Canada were comparable to or even the same as what bus operators are paid here!

Is that sarcasm I sense...?

I never knew Canada was the same as New York or the United States!

I didn't say it was the same place. However, given YRT's base fare (C$3.25 = US$3.32), a comparison is worth looking at.

...I never knew that pay rates for Canada were comparable to or even the same as what bus operators are paid here!

One country's pay rates will undoubtedly rise or fall to match the other country's pay rates. It's only a matter of time.

So what you are saying is that Veolia is bad. well not bad just not a good choice as an operator of NICE and that they are ANTI-ADA compliance

Did they really need to state that Veolia doesn't operate in Antarctica?

Did they really need to state that Veolia doesn't operate in Antarctica?

Yes, if they say "Every Continent" then they have to put the exceptions, or list every continent that they operate in.

Yes, if they say "Every Continent" then they have to put the exceptions, or list every continent that they operate in.

Saw the changes most are really NICE some not so NICE.