checkmatechamp13 Posted March 17, 2011 Share #26 Posted March 17, 2011 If this was posted already in the LIB megathread, apologies, but I saw the clusterfsck at the end and went back to the index. Nassau: Private company to run LI Bus By ALFONSO A. CASTILLO alfonso.castillo@newsday.com Newsday Article (Requires subscription to a Cablevision service or Newsday) Nassau County officials say they will turn over Long Island Bus to a private operator and end their relationship with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which has run the financially beleaguered county bus system for nearly four decades. The announcement came as County Executive Edward Mangano Wednesday outlined cost-cutting measures that include slashing the county's annual contribution to LI Bus by more than half, from $9.1 million to $4.1 million. Mangano spokesman Brian Nevin said the cut is an indication of the county's plan to privatize its bus operation. Nassau will receive "best final offers" from three bidders on Monday and will choose from them over the next few weeks, he said. "The county has decided that funding the MTA's bloated bureaucracy is simply unaffordable for taxpayers," said Nevin, adding that the county's goal is to turn over its bus system to a company that can offer better service and be more efficient than the MTA. The county must give the MTA 60 days' notice before ending its agreement with the transit agency. Nevin said the county will request a date to meet with the MTA to discuss the matter. "The bus system belongs to Nassau County and we respect the county's decision to privatize the system," MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin said. Earlier this month, the MTA announced plans to eliminate more than half of LI Bus' 48 lines, blaming inadequate funding of the system's $140-million annual budget from Nassau. The proposed cuts to 27 routes would affect about 16,000 of LI Bus' 100,000 daily riders, and come less than a year after the MTA axed 11 lines. Advocates for maintaining the MTA's operation of LI Bus have said it is unlikely a private company will be able to offer comparable service for less money. But Nevin said one private bidder has said his company would need just $2.1 million to run the county's system. The county owns the fleet of about 300 buses. Nevin said it is unclear whether privatization would result in fare hikes or service cuts. The base fare now is $2.25. Because it is not known when a private operator would take over LI Bus, MTA officials said they still plan to hold a public hearing Wednesday at Hofstra University about the proposed service reductions, which would take effect in the summer. Ryan Lynch, spokesman for the nonprofit Tri-State Transportation Campaign, said he worries about the lack of accountability by a private operator, which could hike fares, cut service and compromise safety without the checks and balances of the MTA. ---- Which routes would be privatized? Would be be the entire system, or would it only be the ones the MTA is planning to cut? In short, would routes like the N4, N6, N15, N40/N41 continue to be operated by the MTA? Well the Orion V's will stay with Nassau County while the 1700's and 1800's will go back to the MTA. Now what's funny is I see the price of LIB going up about 5 bucks lol In that case, it would probably be cheaper for even the poorest people to buy a car than to pay for the bus. In all seriousness, I don’t see how much a private company would reduce costs, though. Nassau County would still have to heavily subsidize routes like the N73/N74, N80, etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted March 17, 2011 Share #27 Posted March 17, 2011 While the has supported Nassau County, he is right. The taxpayers out on Long Island are paying enough as it is and they just can't afford it anymore. Let them privatize it and let's see how that goes. Maybe they'll get better service this way. I think the is too big for its own good and this way a smaller provider may be able to give Long Island more attention in terms of service. You have to remember that the more the unionized workers get the more costs will go up for the and those costs have to be passed on somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amtrak7 Posted March 17, 2011 Share #28 Posted March 17, 2011 Nassau wants the privatized system to be self-supporting. That's not gonna happen, unless you want 100% fare hikes and many service cuts. The private company may take over all the routes to begin with, but major service cuts are inevitable one way or the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aemoreira81 Posted March 17, 2011 Share #29 Posted March 17, 2011 What happens to the B/O's working for MTA LIB? Probably to be absorbed into whoever the new operator is---or the MTA will have to issue WARN Act notices if the new operator decides to be non-union. The buses will all remain in Nassau. However, the issue now is if the private operator can do any better---the immediate change may be with respect to wages and benefits. The next move for the MTA should be to get out of the express bus business and become a local-bus only operator (the X-bus services should be bid out). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infamous85 Posted March 17, 2011 Share #30 Posted March 17, 2011 I still think the MTA should run the heavier routes such as the N6 but with increased service. Let the medium and low ridership routes be run more efficiently and be given more attention. Idk, this will be interesting. And I sort of have to side with Nassau, paying all that money and what service do they have to show for it? There's no reason why there's such a steep drop off in bus service after East Queens (not that East Queens's service is something to brag about in the 1st place). The MTA is too huge to be that efficient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAzumah Posted March 17, 2011 Share #31 Posted March 17, 2011 No.. Nassau County doesn't own the NG's the MTA does. So unless Nassau buys the buses the NG's will run under MTA now. You are incorrect. Nassau's federal funds paid 80% of the cost of both batches of buses. Nassau controls them. The MTA isn't taking them anywhere. Not to CP or SC or JG or WF or anywhere else. Those buses are Nassau's buses and they are staying in Nassau County. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAzumah Posted March 17, 2011 Share #32 Posted March 17, 2011 Nassau wants the privatized system to be self-supporting. That's not gonna happen, unless you want 100% fare hikes and many service cuts. The private company may take over all the routes to begin with, but major service cuts are inevitable one way or the other. Not self-supporting. Remember, there is $45M in state money that Nassau is assuming will be available in addition to their money as it is now. The thing that Nassau doesn't understand is that if they cut another dollar, the state might start cutting their subsidy as well. That will screw up their plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusOperator3319 Posted March 17, 2011 Share #33 Posted March 17, 2011 This is why I love Greg Mocker some people are just HARD WIRED to believe or go along with anything the says. it's all a political game this dysfunctional state with it's crooked politicians is going to pay dearly for having such agencies like the MTA,RIOC and any other Public Authority who make their own budgets and police them selves without any government oversight oh I forgot that's why Alan Hevesi was put behind bars for outing the MTA and their grand scheme with the two sets of books CLASSIC Question to the MTA is why all of a sudden did this become a problem after years and years of it being alright maybe if they stopped out sourcing work to private contractors and wasting millions on such they wouldn't be demanding money from cash strapped counties Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAzumah Posted March 17, 2011 Share #34 Posted March 17, 2011 While the has supported Nassau County, he is right. The taxpayers out on Long Island are paying enough as it is and they just can't afford it anymore. Let them privatize it and let's see how that goes. Maybe they'll get better service this way. I think the is too big for its own good and this way a smaller provider may be able to give Long Island more attention in terms of service. You have to remember that the more the unionized workers get the more costs will go up for the and those costs have to be passed on somewhere. This is only partially a union issue. There are many unionized bus systems that pay $11-13 per hour. In those bus systems, the union tries not to gangbang the agency/company because they prefer to have a job than starve. There was no such fear in NYC until Walder made his cuts. The bottom line is that the cost of living will increase without cheap labor. Unfortunately, the invisible hand tends to pimpslap those that ignore its presence. The MTA is going to rapidly shrink because it no longer has the money to do everything it is doing. Shrinkage is healthy. They have got the capital program of a lifetime on their hands between rehabbing tunnels and replacing elevated structures in the immediate future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Up Front Posted March 17, 2011 Share #35 Posted March 17, 2011 Except the NGs were bought with government funds, and the 1800s were almost completely paid for by Obama's stimulus money. Why would they buy money if the county that ran LIB wasn't paying for the service? I was meaning to ask ENY about them but he hasn't been on since around Ash Wednesday or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bus Guy Posted March 17, 2011 Share #36 Posted March 17, 2011 Does anyone know if the western most routes are gonna be added to the Queens system? Id say they add the N 20/21 west of Great neck,57,58,25,26,22/24 west of Mineola,15/16/31/32 west of Hempstead,1,2,8,14,6,4 west of Rockville Centre and 33 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amtrak7 Posted March 17, 2011 Share #37 Posted March 17, 2011 Does anyone know if the western most routes are gonna be added to the Queens system? Id say they add the N 20/21 west of Great neck,57,58,25,26,22/24 west of Mineola,15/16/31/32 west of Hempstead,1,2,8,14,6,4 west of Rockville Centre and 33 The only routes that have a chance of getting added to MTA Bus are N4, N6, N20 (west of Great Neck), and N24. The rest will have to suffer with less service and old, unreliable buses. (Hear at least 6 broken down 15- and 16- series buses each afternoon) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qjtransitmaster Posted March 17, 2011 Share #38 Posted March 17, 2011 The only routes that have a chance of getting added to MTA Bus are N4, N6, N20 (west of Great Neck), and N24. The rest will have to suffer with less service and old, unreliable buses. (Hear at least 6 broken down 15- and 16- series buses each afternoon) They will need to restructure some rtes to go to far rockaway to make this even feasable DH long distances makes NO SENSE I SAW AN N4 DH TO FAR ROCKAWAY!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHV9218 Posted March 17, 2011 Share #39 Posted March 17, 2011 Please, watch the Nazi Banksters Crimes Ripple Effect at http://jforjustice.co.uk/banksters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Up Front Posted March 17, 2011 Share #40 Posted March 17, 2011 The Orion Vs I ride are fine... I did see NG 1705 on a tow truck. It was supposed to be the next N32 down to FR. All the Newsday comments range from "all the riders are hoodlums" to "privatization is the best thing." One guy was old enough to remember when buses stopped at where the old terminal was, along with the old private routes that stopped there, including one Bee Line route that went down to Jamaica which we all know and love today as the N6. He also did say all the private companies went bust, and I think that happened sometime in between the MTA's founding and the creation of LIB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted March 17, 2011 Share #41 Posted March 17, 2011 There is absolutely nothing good about Mangano. First he was one of those typical "no-tax" Republicans, and screwed up his entire transit network by suddenly refusing to pay a reasonable tax. Then, he use the typical political scum trick of hitting hard when no punches have been thrown. He called for Jay Walder's resignation, and a fit when the MTA (obviously) wouldn't provide service when he refused to pay. Let him watch his transit network crumble beneath privatization. I have no sympathy for him, and he did absolutely nothing right. Ask Long Islanders what they think that don't use the transit out there. They pay through the nose in property taxes, etc. and they're looking for relief. The relationship between Nassau & the hasn't been that great from what I understand and I don't see it improving w/the (MTA)s financial woes. They're going to be looking for more and more from Nassau whether he's there or not. Now I do think that they should pay for their own transit, but at some point you have to draw the line if the money isn't there. It is not as if the is the only thing out there and I think it would be good to have someone else in the game. I for one would like to see some competition. The only question is if there's anyone out that can provide decent service and give the a run for their money... That remains to be seen and there is no question that he's taking a gamble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vistausss Posted March 17, 2011 Share #42 Posted March 17, 2011 Question to the MTA is why all of a sudden did this become a problem after years and years Maybe becayse Jay Walder is the first chief to actually TRY and close the budget gap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nova RTS 9147 Posted March 17, 2011 Share #43 Posted March 17, 2011 Ask Long Islanders what they think that don't use the transit out there. They pay through the nose in property taxes, etc. and they're looking for relief. The relationship between Nassau & the hasn't been that great from what I understand and I don't see it improving w/the (MTA)s financial woes. They're going to be looking for more and more from Nassau whether he's there or not. Now I do think that they should pay for their own transit, but at some point you have to draw the line if the money isn't there. And the MTA has to draw a line when they're not getting their money. Nassau County wants relief? They're going to get it. I hope they enjoy their private service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trainmaster5 Posted March 17, 2011 Share #44 Posted March 17, 2011 Ask Long Islanders what they think that don't use the transit out there. They pay through the nose in property taxes, etc. and they're looking for relief. The relationship between Nassau & the hasn't been that great from what I understand and I don't see it improving w/the (MTA)s financial woes. They're going to be looking for more and more from Nassau whether he's there or not. Now I do think that they should pay for their own transit, but at some point you have to draw the line if the money isn't there. It is not as if the is the only thing out there and I think it would be good to have someone else in the game. I for one would like to see some competition. The only question is if there's anyone out that can provide decent service and give the a run for their money... That remains to be seen and there is no question that he's taking a gamble. The problem is that they're gambling with some peoples way of life while Nassau and the engaged in their pissing match. Why should Mr or Mrs Taxpayer be threatened with the possible loss of their job because their means of transportation were cut by the or a private concern ? I hope they don't get hurt while this plays out. If privatization or cuts causes some people to be left out of the transportation network is Mr "less government more private enterprise" ready to see the real private businessmen take over? Dollar vans ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MTA Bus Posted March 17, 2011 Share #45 Posted March 17, 2011 So, if the MTA gets their Orion 07 CNG Buses back, then will they go to Mta Bus or Mta NYC Bus. If Mta Bus gets them, then they can send them to College Point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Up Front Posted March 17, 2011 Share #46 Posted March 17, 2011 I think the '90s and Kalikow were the last period of generally operating in the black... after we got the Orion V CNGs from 2000 to 2004, Suozzi found ways to slowly but surely withdraw funding from LIB. Mangano and Walder are just the first to hold a **** waving contest about it and close the gaps on both sides. Maybe in the city they think, "No skin off our noses." Off of LI's nose? This is the skin and the goddamned cartilage. Even back in the 1990s the general population of Nassau rode the bus. With the waves of Hispanics coming in, and thus slowly riding the buses more, brings us to about 2002. This was when the economy was much better - $1.50 fare, fresh buses, and all that good stuff. Keep going through the years, with the occasional scare and fare hike, and that brings us to the end of Kalikow's being in charge. Now, with the economy in the toilet, every company out there is operating in the name of cuts - employees, benefits, which has your unions up in flames, and even services. The NYCT layoffs were just the start. Add Walder and Mangano into the mix and you have a giant mess. Us LIB riders were caught in the crossfire. The brief period of the MTA offering to at least continue it for some time was like the back end of the Titanic briefly surfacing after it broke in half. Now it's back up and it's going under, and it's taking us all with it. I suppose he won't go back until it's way too late and these people that are just barely getting by will be the ones that are gone. Race doesn't count. Everything is so mixed, you don't know where people come from any more. It's just Nassau residents being horribly discriminate and making the wrong assumptions based on what they see and hear in the media. It doesn't give you a right to f__k with peoples' lives. Sadly, the suits at the top live otherwise and make cuts from the safety of their homes, assuming there will be no backlash or sonic boom. It was fun, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted March 18, 2011 Share #47 Posted March 18, 2011 And the MTA has to draw a line when they're not getting their money. Nassau County wants relief? They're going to get it. I hope they enjoy their private service. And if Nassau County doesn't have it they can't just invent it, so they have to look at other options. I don't see why everyone is so gung hoe about the as if they're the only transportation provider. You would think we were in a third world country or something. I'm still curious to hear what the general consensus is of the people out in Nassau County and not just those using public transportation but overall. If they support it then perhaps he's moving in the right direction. From what I've heard the service is inadequate in most cases, so why the uproar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nova RTS 9147 Posted March 18, 2011 Share #48 Posted March 18, 2011 And if Nassau County doesn't have it they can't just invent it, so they have to look at other options. I don't see why everyone is so gung hoe about the as if they're the only transportation provider. You would think we were in a third world country or something. I'm still curious to hear what the general consensus is of the people out in Nassau County and not just those using public transportation but overall. If they support it then perhaps he's moving in the right direction. From what I've heard the service is inadequate in most cases, so why the uproar? Because you don't cheat the person you're contracting out of $20 million dollars and then paint them as the bad person. If you don't have the cash then the other option isn't to not pay the bill. Plain and simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
checkmatechamp13 Posted March 18, 2011 Share #49 Posted March 18, 2011 And if Nassau County doesn't have it they can't just invent it, so they have to look at other options. I don't see why everyone is so gung hoe about the as if they're the only transportation provider. You would think we were in a third world country or something. I'm still curious to hear what the general consensus is of the people out in Nassau County and not just those using public transportation but overall. If they support it then perhaps he's moving in the right direction. From what I've heard the service is inadequate in most cases, so why the uproar? You have to consider that public agencies are more accountable than a private company. A public company is required by law to hold hearings when it wishes to make major service changes (reductions and additions) or fare increases, whereas a private company is more likely to cut service on a whim. Also, the MTA is more able to be contacted: If there is a problem, such as a bunch of missing buses, it is probably a lot easier to report it than reporting it to a private company. And what do you mean by general concensus? Do you mean what they think should be done with the system (privatize it, cut it completely, or pay the MTA their money)? If that is what you mean, I would assume that the towns further west have a more welcoming view of public transportation. Even if they don't use the system themselves, they probably have children who use it, or friends that use it. The thing is that those areas are generally the areas where the services have high ridership and are fairly cost-efficient, and are therefore not getting cut (of course, with some exceptions) Further east, you have the people with the "Who cares" additude, since they don't use the system. I'm sure that some of the towns with routes that run every 60 minutes have people who are actually opposed to the bus system, since it uses their tax dollars to help bring in a supposedly undesirable element into their neighborhoods (obviously, those people aren't even using the system, or if they are, they are using it to get to the LIRR and have a car available at home). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted March 18, 2011 Share #50 Posted March 18, 2011 Because you don't cheat the person you're contracting out of $20 million dollars and then paint them as the bad person. If you don't have the cash then the other option isn't to not pay the bill. Plain and simple. This is what happens when you allow Nassau County to not pay its full share. They've become entitled to thinking that the owes them something and in a way perhaps they're right. I mean this has been going on for years and now because the is feeling the crunch, now they want to become tough now. A little too late for that, so yeah it's easy to see how Mangano or anyone in his position would play hard ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.