67thAve

Very few people, if any, do that, because of the following: 1) The n43 is timed to just miss the departing n15 at Roosevelt Field, thus meaning an 18-minute wait for anyone who wants to catch the n15. 2) Northbound and southbound n16 buses typically show up at around the same time on campus, so everyone is just bound to board the southbound bus if going to HTC. 3) No one wants to willingly wait at Roosevelt Field for more than a short period of time, as there aren't even benches in the shelters. On a side-note, is NICE even operating the artics mid-day? Perhaps they could operate special mid-day n16x services with them, as if the artics are not being interlined with n6x trips, they can time the trips based upon class change times, which are different depending on the day. But that costs money, and NICE has none to spare.

"Redundant service."

NICE really needs to do something about the loads coming to/from NCC during the class change times. The fact that every day, there are people having to wait an extra 30 minutes for an n16 or n35 to Hempstead because they couldn't fit on the bus is disgusting.

I totally agree with that. Another possibility, at least in my mind, is to have the n15 replace the n16x and serve NCC during rush hours instead of going via County Seat Drive, as I've rarely seen anyone get on/off along the County Seat routing. I'd also like to see the elimination of the stop on Earle Ovington before the bus turns onto Charles Lindbergh for the n16. I've only seen students occasionally board the n16 there, and it adds quite a bit of runtime (espeically if it gets stuck in traffic trying to leave the parking lot).

Updated the list to reflect that NJT does not mail schedules. Also, from here on out, any updates to the list will be on my profile page.

It doesn't do enough. I took the RVC-bound n16 trip that passes through NCC at around 11:15 AM to HTC, and we had to flag people once we got past 50 Charles Lindbergh.

I am aware that many of us here utilize paper schedules as a supplement to the virtual transit data provided by our operators, and perhaps even collect them. As such, I have compiled a list of the places that, as far as I am aware, provide transit information not just virtually, but tangibly as well. Note that the list is not complete, and I will edit the list if fellow users provide me with additional information, whether on operators or locations, through responses or messages. In particular, advice on systems where I have put a "?" would be useful. NOTE: The parameters I am using for the New York City area are based upon what is listed on Wikipedia (which is likely a bit larger than we typically consider it to be). NEW YORK STATE LOCAL SERVICES: MTA New York City Subway/Staten Island Railroad: System map (includes LIRR/MNR routes on reverse side) available at most stations (at token booth), 3 Stone Street, or can be ordered via mail. As far as I am aware, paper schedules are only available for the SIR, and they are available at St. George. MTA New York City Bus/MTA Bus: System maps are available for each borough, and can be found at most subway stations (at token booth), 3 Stone Street, or can be ordered via mail. Bus schedules are typically available at random off of buses and at 3 Stone Street, though Staten Island bus schedules, both local and express, can easily be found at St. George and Eltingville. MTA Long Island Rail Road: Schedules for all branches are easily available at Jamaica, Atlantic Terminal, and Penn Station. Schedules for the relevant branch(es) are also available at most stations with waiting rooms. MTA Metro-North Railroad: Schedules for all lines are available at Grand Central Terminal. At outlying stations with waiting rooms, schedules are typically available for the line that services the station. NICE Bus: Schedules are typically available at random on buses, at some LIRR stations (such as Mineola), and at Hempstead Transit Center (some schedules are not on display, so ask the person manning the booth for a copy - typically, they have all routes in stock back there). System map is occasionally available, but be warned, it is half a decade out of date! Long Beach Bus: Combined schedule/map vailable on buses. Suffolk County Transit: Individual schedules and maps are available via mail. HART (Huntington): ? Westchester Bee-Line: Schedules and system maps are available via mail, and schedules for many individual routes are available at White Plains TransCenter. You can also find copies for a few routes at MNR stations, and I once found some in Stamford (though I believe that was a fluke). Putnam Transit: ? Dutchess LOOP: ? Transport of Rockland: Tappan-Zee Express schedules are available at White Plains, but I am not certain about other routes, or the system map. Clarkstown Mini-Trans: ? UCAT/Kingston CitiBus: Schedule for Ulster-Poughkeepsie Link available at Stationmaster's Office in Grand Central Terminal (in MNR format), but I am not certain about any other brochures. Various networks in Orange County (Middletown, Newburgh, Kiryas Joel): ? CONNECTICUT LOCAL SERVICES: CT Transit Stamford: Schedules and system map available at information center in the pedestrian tunnels next to Stamford station.* CT Transit New Haven: Schedules and system map are available at both train stations in New Haven, as well at an information kiosk on the New Haven Green. Please note that the schedules are inside the kiosk, and must be requested to be given. The kiosk also carries the timetable for Estuary Transit, and I've seen schedules for some CT Transit Hartford and CT Transit New Britain routes at Union Station.* CT Transit Waterbury: Schedules and system map are available at 188 Bank Street in Waterbury.* *CT Transit will mail schedules, but all orders by mail are routed through Hartford. I ended up getting Waterbury schedules from 2005 earlier this year as a result. Norwalk Transit District: ? GBTA: System timetable (but not map) available at the bus terminal next to Bridgeport station, and via mail as well. HART (Danbury): Schedules for shuttle services are available at the Stationmaster's Office in Grand Central Terminal (in MNR format). I am not certain about the rest of the routes, however. Milford Transit District: ? NEW JERSEY LOCAL SERVICES: New Jersey Transit (Rail services): Train schedules for most (if not all) lines are available at Newark Penn, New York Penn, Secaucus Junction, Hoboken, and the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Many other stations also have schedules available for the train line(s) that stop there. I've also seen system maps available at the specific locations I have listed. New Jersey Transit (Light rail services): All schedules are available (as far as I am aware) at New York Penn, Newark Penn, and the Port Authority Bus Terminal. New Jersey Transit (Bus services): Schedules are typically available for bus routes at train stations or bus terminals that they service (for example, you'll find most 600-series bus schedules at Trenton, most Essex County routes at Newark Penn, and so on). The Port Authority Bus Terminal, however, carries every single New Jersey Transit bus schedule at the customer service office there (though to obtain a schedule for a route that doesn't service the terminal, you have to ask the guy behind the counter to get it - don't try to get them all at once!). NJT claims to mail schedules, though I've never been able to get through. Many counties and TMAs, however, will mail schedules for the relevant service area. PENNSYLVANIA LOCAL SERVICES: Pocono Pony: ? LANTA: ? COMMUTER SERVICES/PRIVATE OPERATORS: A&C Bus Corporation: ? Academy Buses: ? Community Coach: Available at the information booth, as well as the ticket counter, in the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Short Line Bus: Same as Community Coach. Suburban Transit: Same as Community Coach Rockland Coaches: Same as Community Coach for the Port Authority Bus Terminal, though schedules are also available at the GWB Bus Station. ONE Bus: All schedules are available at Newark Penn Station. DeCamp Bus Lines: Available by mail. Lakeland Bus Lines: All schedules are available in the New Jersey Transit customer service center at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Trans-Bridge Lines: Same as Lakeland. Martz Trailways: System timetable available at information booth at the Port Authority Bus Terminals. Susquehanna Trailways: Same as Martz. Hampton Jitney: Same as Martz. Leprechaun Lines: ?

Is there an easy way to get hard copies of the current bus timetables (excluding Staten Island services, which are easily available at St George and Eltingville)? The only places where I've found bus schedules otherwise are at Stone Street (where the selection is mostly express and SBS routes), as well as on buses.

I have no idea, and the n15 is one of those routes that I take very frequently. Some days it's pretty good, other days, not so much (I've had instances where three n15 buses in the same direction showed up in ten minutes). One possibility, in my view, is perhaps X bus gets stuck at a lot of the lights in Rockville Centre while Y bus just cruises on through.

It's not surprising, especially with NICE's funding situation. If these breakdowns continue, NICE will need to cut frequencies (perhaps even routes) not out of budget reasons, but rather because there are just too few buses that can be on the road any single day due to breakdowns, engine trouble, and so on. It's especially problematic because the non-New Flyer buses in the fleet are also unreliable.

If there's one thing that we can expect for next year, it's probably more service cuts. At this point, there are three things in life that are guaranteed: Death, taxes, and yearly NICE service cuts. The real question is, however, what is there left to cut? NICE has effectively gnawed almost all the meat out the system, and they've begun to pick at the bones. After five years of this consistent trimming of the network, Nassau County's system is in declining health. At the rate that ridership is draining, I wouldn't be surprised to see some of the following things occur: -No more service on major holidays (Christmas, for example) -No more overnight service on the n4 or n6 -Routes that follow train lines for the majority of their distance will see heavy reductions in service, if not outright elimination. This includes the following: n4 (I don't see complete elimination, of course, but perhaps no more n4x service?) n19 (complete elimination in next round of service cuts is almost certainly going to happen) n22 (Not really certain here... no more express service, perhaps reduced service beyond RFM?) n23 south of Roslyn (very difficult for me to see any more cuts here, but NICE will find a way to do something, no matter how unexpected) n24 (Certainly not elimination, maybe no more service on weekends past RFM) n27 (either complete elimination or rush-hours only) n31/32 (Perhaps mid-day and Saturday service is reduced to every 30 minutes?) -If things are extremely desperate, perhaps they'd terminate all routes to/from Queens at the city line (perhaps with the exception of the n31/n32/n33, since Far Rockaway is only a few blocks in). This would probably drain ridership a lot, but it wouldn't surprise me at this point.

Knowing NICE, they'll figure out a way at the last minute, but it will be badly executed, and we will end up with a surreal series of driver errors and passenger complaints come the 9th.

In the case of the n15 to the n43, it's because you have roughly a two-minute window on average to make a connection between them. Factor in that waiting at Roosevelt Field is very uncomfortable (no benches to sit on, for example), and you've got an unpleasant experience if you miss the connection.

It also seems that all n22a trips are being converted into n22 short turns that begin/end in Mineola.

Perhaps since NICE seems to have discovered warping technology, perhaps they could sell that off and use it to fill the budget gap?

I can't believe that they kept things like 20-minute Sunday frequencies on the n15 and those 15-minutes frequencies on Saturday mornings on the n70/71/72 over the n6x to NCC. This is going to be painful for people who go to and leave from campus mid-day at NCC, as well as those who need to travel to/from 60 Charles Lindbergh. You'll have most, if not all, n16 buses flagging 60 Charles Lindbergh on the way from NCC to Hempstead, and with the n27 being every hour instead of every 30 minutes, it's going to be tough for them to get to/from there. Also, the volume of riders needing to board an n16 at Hempstead towards Roosevelt Field will be so high that many students will probably find themselves unable to get on the bus after waiting in line to board, and unless a n35 arrives to provide salvation, they'll be very late to class. The easiest way to remedy this is to extend all mid-day n35 trips to NCC during the fall and spring semesters, but that isn't going to happen. All-Island Cab must be rubbing their hands in glee right now.

The n48 no longer going to the Quad will surprise absolutely no one. I also believe that n27 weekend cut was discussed at the meeting with the public, but never listed on the website until now. As for the other three: -The n1 being cut on weekends is not good, to say the least. There is absolutely no other bus service in most of Elmont and Valley Stream, and both areas have sizable populations of lower-income folks. They're going to need to walk either to Hempstead Turnpike or Merrick Road for service. -The n16 being eliminated on Saturdays at first seemed very alarming, but in all reality, it isn't inexcusable. While the n1 has few alternates, the n16 has lots of redundancies. The n35 runs twice as often on Saturdays (as of now - not sure how the frequencies will be once April rolls around), and effectively serves most of the same destinations from the Southern State northwards (though between the Southern State and Hempstead terminal, it's a few blocks away in a not-so-great area). The n15 also provides service to/from Rockville Centre as well. The real losers here are those whom live south of the Southern State and north of Lakeview Avenue, as well as those who work at Mercy Medical on Saturdays and walk to/from the n16 (though I'm not sure how many people do this). -The n33 being eliminated on Sundays is... an odd one. The n33 certainly doesn't get great ridership from what I am aware of, but it's a reasonably short route and fills in a very important gap in the network. Without the n33, a person whom wants to go from Far Rockaway to Long Beach will have to go up to Lynbrook on the n32, transfer to the n4, and then board the n15, or they can fork over a few extra dollars for the train from Lynbrook to Long Beach. I'd personally keep service on this route on Sundays, but end it at the Long Beach city line and time trips to connect with Long Beach Bus service.

Hills. Lots of hills. Plus, with a system like NICE, you can be assured that the buses aren't in the greatest shape to haul up and down slopes in this weather.

Saw #1965, #1967, and #1966 passing by the NCC Student Union as training buses a bit after 10 AM. Those curves on campus seem very tight for the artics.

There's no way that the n6 will have 20 minute frequencies (or even less) outside of late nights. 12-minute frequencies are likely, as they fall below the threshold of the 25% reduction in service required for presentation in front of the Committee (12-minute frequencies are roughly a 20% reduction).

Does anyone else think that NICE should charge some sort of transfer fee for riders transferring from the MTA (such as 25 cents)? It would still be significantly cheaper for riders compared to the LIRR, and could help to fill the budget gap a bit.

NICE could probably sell off the property in Rockville Centre for development (real estate there is pretty valuable nowadays) and then buying some more room for the Mitchell Field depot to be expanded a bit (property around Mitchell Field is significantly cheaper). Even when factoring in expanding Mitchell Field, the long-term costs savings of everything being under one roof will yield more financial benefits for years to come. However, I still don't see the routes that have been cut coming back regardless.

What I believe that NICE wants to do reflects a long-term shift in ridership. The amount of "choice riders" in Nassau County has steadily declined over the decades, especially in the eastern reaches of the county. However, population density has increased in the western parts of the county, and many areas in that region have gotten significantly poorer over time, and changes in bus frequencies and routing have reflected that (one example being the gradual shift from the n45 to the n43). Bus ridership in Nassau County now almost exclusively consists of "the help", college students, and people without driver's licenses. A few decades ago, ridership was much more healthy among the middle class (though it still wasn't great), and people would take the bus to/from the malls and to/from the LIRR. Online shopping helped to kill the former draw (if you can afford to shop online and don't have a car, why go to the mall?), but I'm not sure how the latter declined so much. Overall, I'd expect that future cuts will reduce service significantly on the Jerusalem Avenue buses (n54/55), Hempstead Turnpike buses (n70/71/72), the eastern Northern Boulevard buses (n20H/21), and the Front Street buses (n48/49). However, some buses will likely be re-allocated to routes in the western section of the county (where routes are shorter and have higher ridership per mile, thus making them cheaper to operate), so small service increases are possible on routes like the n4, n15, the southern section of the n35, the n40/41, and the n43. Within five years, things will likely improve slightly for riders east of the Meadowbrook and south of Jericho Turnpike, as service reliability will likely increase as the longer routes to the east are reduced even further, and perhaps small increases in frequency. As for those in the other parts of the county, you may NEED to get a car, because unless you qualify for Able-Ride, there will be either extremely limited or no bus service at all.