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Mangano Selects Veolia to Operate Long Island Bus


PinePower

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No, the MTA got too comfortable paying for Nassau service trying to be nice. I've seen the financials. Nassau hasn't contributed shit. They just unloaded LIB onto the TA.

 

Who do you think got the bulk of those new buses for LIB? It certainly wasn't Nassau County!!

 

Right and they've been doing it for years now because they knew they could and pass the expense on to us.

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Staten Island is very similar to Nassau in alot of ways yet it gets much more transit service, in some ways. So lets say we privatize the SI system?

But that'd never happen because its NYC and only in the city do transit riders count.

Ever been on Nassau's roads? They are clogged with traffic, some of the worst in the nation, and you want to put more cars on them?

Nassau is quite an urban county and has more in common with Queens than Suffolk!

 

Yeah, well we've considered succeeding from NYC in the past and actually attempted to but the city blocked us from doing so. Now the talk is starting up again because we on Staten Island feel that we aren't getting our fair share. The Verrazano is a perfect example of that, but that's another issue.

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The MTA should get back at Nassau County and take some of the biggest money-making routes Nassau has with them, or at least the ones that crosses city limits (e.g. N4, N6, N20, N21, N22/22A, N31, N32, N33, he'll even the N88 while they're at it!).

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Mangano understands that his consitituents simply CANNOT afford to pay anymore taxes than they are already and why people can't understand that is beyond me.

 

Yes, but what he pretends to not understand is that the County owns the bus system, so the County is responsible to pay its contractor. A contract is a contract is a contract.

 

Suppose you hire a roofer and then decide to pay him only when you feel like paying, and even then you'll give him only spare change and pocket lint. Would he keep working? No, he would walk away.

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Yes, but what he pretends to not understand is that the County owns the bus system, so the County is responsible to pay its contractor. A contract is a contract is a contract.

 

Suppose you hire a roofer and then decide to pay him only when you feel like paying, and even then you'll give him only spare change and pocket lint. Would he keep working? No, he would walk away.

 

Wow, a broken record is what you sound like there. Not only are about 20-30 of your posts about LIB being dropped, they all say the same goddamn thing.

 

Have anything new to post or are you just going to keep getting off to all this business?

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I'm not re-typing all of what was lost when I got automatically logged off....

But I will say this...

 

First off, get off Mocker... he's nothin more than an insignificant reporter...

 

Next, Why is it about the taxpayer? To me, that sounds like nothin more than a convenient smokescreen to hide behind, when it comes to supplying sufficient bus service for the county... I cannot stand when someone cries broke, full knowing they aint - from the common man on down to a corporation....

 

Nassau milked what it could from the MTA for years, and nothin that suggests to me that they gave a dog style f*** about public transportation WITHIN the county - which even holds true w/ the LIRR.... The monies that were given to the MTA to run LIB is equivalent to money a parent would give a child for lunch for SOME type of nourishment for his school day... Pat the poor bastard on the head, have him buy a 50 cent juice & 2 bags of 25 cent chips and all is well.... Damn that.

 

The declining service, the decrepit equipment (I mean, I don't know of a system whose buses have broken down as much as LIB has... just the sheer frequency with which it happens is astounding, and shows the blatant neglect).... I have a huge gripe with a company that supplies it's workers inadequate tools for a job... Thing is, in this case, I can't blame the company (operator), b/c it isn't given enough money to provide for continually adequate & efficient tools for the job...

 

"Will this bus break down today, hmm, I wonder...."

Who the hell wants to have to worry about that while commuting.... Commutes can be stressful enough....

 

In any event, Nassau county isn't that vast, rural suburb... someone made the point that it's more like Queens than it is like Suffolk, and I couldn't agree more... The money is there, the problem I see is that they're portioning their money how they want to portion it - which is fine... Except, if you're gonna place & consider "the bus" lower down on the totem pole, the workers & the school kids/college students even lower down than that, it doesn't show that you have the bravado to stand up against the MTA - it shows that you really could give a damn about those that aren't of the class of people of your type.... The Wealthy.

 

There is nothin that screams pro-transit about Mangano.... and regardless of whoever this phantom operator is, I have zero reason to be optimistic that the betterment of the people will be considered in any service provided from it...

 

I have four Aces, and I aint foldin.....

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The Long Island Bus system will survive, although probably with cuts similar to what the MTA proposed earlier this year. The private operator will run the system with a leaner management than the MTA has. Nassau County will pay more than what they were paying to the MTA – they will have to - but this will mean they will get bus service at a lower cost per service hour with the private operator than they would have if the MTA were still running things. The state will not cut back subsidies because the head of the Senate is from Nassau County. The predictions of doom and gloom on this and other transit fan sites are really overblown, IMO.

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The Long Island Bus system will survive, although probably with cuts similar to what the MTA proposed earlier this year. The private operator will run the system with a leaner management than the MTA has. Nassau County will pay more than what they were paying to the MTA – they will have to - but this will mean they will get bus service at a lower cost per service hour with the private operator than they would have if the MTA were still running things. The state will not cut back subsidies because the head of the Senate is from Nassau County. The predictions of doom and gloom on this and other transit fan sites are really overblown, IMO.

 

Nassau won't pay more than they paid the MTA. That's why we're predicting doom and gloom.

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The Long Island Bus system will survive, although probably with cuts similar to what the MTA proposed earlier this year. The private operator will run the system with a leaner management than the MTA has. Nassau County will pay more than what they were paying to the MTA – they will have to - but this will mean they will get bus service at a lower cost per service hour with the private operator than they would have if the MTA were still running things. The state will not cut back subsidies because the head of the Senate is from Nassau County. The predictions of doom and gloom on this and other transit fan sites are really overblown, IMO.

 

What are you basing that off of, exactly?

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Coming from someone who takes NYCT everyday, I think the MTA did a good job of running Long Island Bus. Yes, buses were late on weekdays during rush hour, but its not the MTA's fault that the streets of Nassau are crowded. Putting the whole 26 million aside, for the work that the MTA provided for Nassau County, Mangano should put the money where his mouth is and should've just continued the service. Bus operators, repairs, bus stops, the MTA maintained all of them. Free transfers from buses, LIRR alternative service, bus getaways (ex. Jones Beach), MTA LIB did them all. No other operator will do the job that the MTA did because they just don't have the experience. Who knows more about transportation than the MTA, the company who runs an entire transit system for all of New York City. I mean c'mon. Mangano, you're making a huge mistake and no one can say it anymore than that. I sure hope that the new operator doesn't make those proposed cuts to the buses, because then I hope Mangano gets kicked out of office and onto the streets. You've doomed us all and you don't even know it. How the hell is he in office anyway? I mean c'mon.

Since privatization is certain now, please, I urge everyone to take Long Island Bus anytime you can until the end of the year. We must not forget the memories of MTA Long Island Bus and the service that will be lost on January 1st. I'll do my best to capture what I need to get. And my heart goes out to everyone who depends greatly on those Nassau County Buses. :tdown::tdown::tdown:Ed Mangano:tdown::tdown::tdown:

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Yeah, well we've considered succeeding from NYC in the past and actually attempted to but the city blocked us from doing so. Now the talk is starting up again because we on Staten Island feel that we aren't getting our fair share. The Verrazano is a perfect example of that, but that's another issue.

 

Elaborate on that part cuz I find nothing wrong with it

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He's taking a stand against the (MTA) which it seems like no one else has the balls to do. All of the complaining about how bad service is with the (MTA) running it yet folks expect taxpayers to spend more of their hard earned money to subsidize that bus system that provides poor service? Doesn't make any sense to me. The plan hasn't even been implemented yet and folks are complaining about how terrible it is. Mangano understands that his consitituents simply CANNOT afford to pay anymore taxes than they are already and why people can't understand that is beyond me.

 

The question is why should the working class continue to support the poor as if they have money to just throw away just because some people need transportation in an area that is clearly car dependent. Long Island is NOT NYC. If you're going to move to a place with poor transportation and you're poor then don't complain about a poor transit system. There are plenty of affordable places with better transportation. That money could be better used and that is what Mangano is doing. He is providing what is needed for much less than what the (MTA) wants.

 

If you want to go by definition, there aren't many "working-class" people in Long Island (percentage-wise). An average "working-class" family earns around $40,000 per year (which is probably around the average income for a bus rider in Long Island)

 

The thing is that you get less value (in terms of space and things like crime) for your money as you go closer to the city. So a family might make enough money to afford a place in, say South Jamaica, which has good transit. Or, they could move further out and get a bigger, safer place in an area like Uniondale, which would lose a decent amount of its transit service.

 

Admittedly, most of the areas that will lose all of their transit service have very few poor people. However, in some of those areas (like the areas served by the N57/N58), there are a lot of professional-type people who take those buses to the LIRR.

 

How the hell are landscapers going to get on the bus with all their tools and equipment? That too, is what I want to know. I don't know how things go down in the center of the county (oh wait, maybe I do...), but last I checked, landscapers rode around in their company trucks. I think I'd hear something from the bus operators if I saw a guy get on with a lawn mower and a side trimmer. Borderline god-effing-awful is what I just read there.

 

Yeah, a lot more than half of the ridership is Hispanic, but are they all in landscaping? Every time. Every time, some how "landscapers" get into there. Maybe that's all they can do. Not up to me, but you really should stop with that. We're both in the same boat, but I at least tried to make the best of it.

 

You're right. I doubt that the majority of the Hispanic riders are landscapers. That's just a stereotype.

 

As far as taking the company truck goes, I'm sure a lot of the people who actually do landscaping have to take the bus to get to the company headquarters, where the company truck picks them up.

 

We'll just have to wait and see I guess and if it goes under then so be it. Maybe Nassau wasn't meant to have bus service. They weren't paying much for the service, right, but they were still contributing something, albeit it not much and that's the point. And believe me, I'm well aware of the fact that NYC taxpayers have been footing a good portion of the bill for way too long and I still stand by what I said, regardless to how clueless you think I am on the subject.

 

The way I see it if no one can provide bus service then they shouldn't even bother to bid. Of course the clear answer to that is they want the money, so it is what it is. The fact of the matter is you can't make money appear that isn't there.

 

I'm sure you don't mean all of Nassau wasn't meant to have bus service. There are a decent number of areas that do have well-used buses (though most of those areas aren't seeing reductions).

 

And, actually, the Federal Government can make money appear out of nowhere by printing out extra money (of course, that would be done as a last resort, as it would lead to other problems such as inflation).

 

If they want to keep the subsidy low, maybe what they should do is have a requirement for a higher fare. Right now, they aren't accepting bids from anybody who can't run the system at a $2.50 fare or less. Maybe if they raised that requirement to $3, they could find a better operator.

 

Yeah well the taxpayers in Westchester are different from the taxpayers on Long Island and they have different priorities. I agree with the decision. That new arena will benefit Long Island as a whole in the long run and it is basically an investment that they are more likely to make money off of than LI Bus. That's like me. I earn a good living, but I don't drive, BUT even though I live in Staten Island, I still live in NYC. I would like to see service expanded a bit more, but overall my main gripe is that the service we have isn't provided, but in most cases it is adequate. Unless I planned on buying a car, I would not move to Long Island. People are saying that it's so expensive to live in Nassau, but yet these people live there?? I mean it makes no sense and I don't buy this about they can't move anywhere cheaper.

 

 

 

Yeah and so what if he does? Hell quite frankly I wouldn't mind us having things privatized here rather than fork over my money to the (MTA) even if it meant paying more. Yeah it's picking between two devils, but hey the (MTA) has gotten too comfortable being the only show in town anyway and that's why things that should be done haven't been done.

 

Like I said, nobody should expect good transit just for living in a certain place. If you live in an isolated place, you should get coverage-style transit (though not necessarily no transit). Somebody living in Charleston, Staten Island shouldn't get bus service every 10 minutes all day because "they live in NYC". I do admit that every effort should be made to stick to the schedule, though, and not have buses go MIA. If a bus is regularly being cancelled, that's fine, but at least don't have it on the schedule and have the riders waiting for a bus that won't come.

 

And I'd rather have a private system if it meant cheaper fares (assuming the buses were reasonably frequent, reliable and safe).

 

Yeah, well we've considered succeeding from NYC in the past and actually attempted to but the city blocked us from doing so. Now the talk is starting up again because we on Staten Island feel that we aren't getting our fair share. The Verrazano is a perfect example of that, but that's another issue.

 

That decision would just be plain stupid. City services generally get more expensive to provide (per person) as the density decreases. This goes for everything from utlities to transit. Most of NYC is subsidizing our services (pay more taxes per household than every borough except Manhattan, which has a lower median income, but smaller household sizes that are taxed at a higher rate).

 

There is no scenario in which there would be no bus service in Nassau County. I can guarantee that much. The state will ensure that Nassau has some bus service.

 

If nothing else, I'm sure private companies would begin running dollar van-style service on the busy routes (and whoever is running the system is unlikely to cut those routes anyway)

 

Nassau won't pay more than they paid the MTA. That's why we're predicting doom and gloom.

 

Ed Mangano might be trying to hire a company because they are his friends, so he might find some excuse to increase the subsidy.

 

Elaborate on that part cuz I find nothing wrong with it

 

Verrazanno-Narrows Bridge toll revenue goes towards subsidizing LIRR and Metro-North service, rather than NYC services.

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Verrazanno-Narrows Bridge toll revenue goes towards subsidizing LIRR and Metro-North service, rather than NYC services.

 

More specifically our transit system would be much better on Staten Island if those funds were used for Staten Island and the other boroughs rather than subsidizing LIRR and Metro North. It's a perfect example of how Staten Islanders are shafted and why they say that the Verrazano is nothing more than the (MTA)'s cash cow, especially when Staten Island was promised NO TOLLS once the costs for the bridge were paid off. :)

 

So much for that idea. You lie!! :o

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