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NICE Planned Service/Schedule Changes


tvega961

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I keep on hearing that (MTA) LIB would have been alright if Nassau paid their fair share? What's the fair share of a bloated budget? Yea Nassau is going to have to pay, maybe not what it likes, (and they might not even have the money to pay what the system needs to run as it has, times are tough, all over the world. But is Nassau paying the (MTA) what they feel is fair to operate a skeleton system on a bloated budget really fair to the county, the riders, or the tax payers?

 

Ok, but knowing nassau they wouldn't pay the MTA, so pretty much the MTA would still cut LIB for good. Now looking at NICE, they still plan to run with the $2 million. Even tho there will be changes. And yes Nassau may be forced to pay up a bit more regardless.

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Here's somebody who claims to know what the upcoming changes are. I don't know if this is true or not:

 

Re: NICE Bus plans service cuts in April

 

Ah, yeah, I believe he's in there somewhere, that's how most people found out about what happened to 1804/1808

 

Lol. Extending the N24 to Hicksville, kinda ruins the point of the N22 when you think about it, the N24 was meant as a one-seat trip to Roosevelt Field from Queens

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Ah, yeah, I believe he's in there somewhere, that's how most people found out about what happened to 1804/1808

 

Lol. Extending the N24 to Hicksville, kinda ruins the point of the N22 when you think about it, the N24 was meant as a one-seat trip to Roosevelt Field from Queens

 

Maybe it'll just be select N24s, just to fill in the gaps in service on the N22 (there are times when the buses come 10 minutes apart, and then there's a 20 minute gap, so the N24 would probably fill that gap)

 

In any case, he also mentions an N6 and N22 express: Re: NICE Bus plans service cut$ in April ... + some ''good news'' w/video

 

1) The (MTA) would cut those 48 or sumthing routes, they're planning to slash last June. For now, they are just going to do some adjustments, merges, cuts and additional services probably to gain some profits. Really, Nassau should pay 7.3million extra bucks to N.I.C.E. still.

 

2) I personally think this route might be a bit different from the N22, but we'll see on what plays out during the upcoming meetings on the 22nd [uniondale Mariott] and 23rd [Great Neck Library].

 

1) They would've cut 25 out of the 48 routes.

 

2) I don't really see what routing it could take where it would be different from the N22. Unless it served Jericho Turnpike rather than Prospect Avenue, but then do those people really want bus service?

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Nope, he is just a plain conservative that likes to benefit the Rich-Elite North Shore folks and leave the middle class and poor in the cold.

 

 

 

The (MTA) would cut those 48 or sumthing routes, they're planning to slash last June. For now, they are just going to do some adjustments, merges, cuts and additional services probably to gain some profits. Really, Nassau should pay 7.3million extra bucks to N.I.C.E. still.

 

 

 

I personally think this route might be a bit different from the N22, but we'll see on what plays out during the upcoming meetings on the 22nd [uniondale Mariott] and 23rd [Great Neck Library].

This is one issue where we agree 100% NICE is nicer than the MTA. MTA isn't very creative they couldn't manipulate their LIRR ridership to spill it off on buses as feeders cause they aren't creative.
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This is one issue where we agree 100% NICE is nicer than the MTA. MTA isn't very creative they couldn't manipulate their LIRR ridership to spill it off on buses as feeders cause they aren't creative.

 

You know, maybe people want to take the commuter train into the city?

 

Maybe they don't want to ride a bus although it's cheaper and slower? Traffic could be a bitch, y'know? Maybe they're willing to spend the extra couple of dollars for a one-seat trip to the inner city, maybe they're happy with their train?

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This makes the whole system confusing and doesn't make any sense. How is this to fill the budget gap?

 

Remember, these changes are confirmed, but they're not all of them. Only those which involve routing changes have maps, there are probably more service reductions in terms of spans and headways.

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As a former semi-regular user of the old LI Bus when i went to CW Post for a semster in 2003, my replies on the proposed changes.

 

N16-No comment as i never been on that route.

 

N23-I am confused by this proposal? Does the N23 run to both Mineola and RFM during rush hours? Still IMO, it should still serve Mineola but *not stop at the Mineola LIRR* similar to the N-15. Looks like Veoila is trying to take make dramtic changes in north-south central nassau bus service. This is basically making the N-27 a shuttle. Wonder how Mr. Pine will reply?

 

 

N24 replaces the N78/79 between Hicksville and Minoela. This has both huge pluses and minues. The advantages is that for 1st time riders along the busy Old Country Road coordior have a direct bus to Queens. Big negative is that this new N24 route is subject to bus bunching/delays caused by traffic.

 

My takes is this.

Veoila should just run a 'shuttle route' between East Meadow/Uniondale and Minoela.

N24 should also have 'limited stop' service such as the N20 and N22.

The N79 should still run between RFM and Walt Whitman at least weekdays as a 'back-up' in case the "N24" is delayed.

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N23-I am confused by this proposal? Does the N23 run to both Mineola and RFM during rush hours? Still IMO, it should still serve Mineola but *not stop at the Mineola LIRR* similar to the N-15. Looks like Veoila is trying to take off overcrowding on the N-27 for north-south bus service in central Nassau.

 

From what I understand:

 

-Rush hours: Like today, Mineola only.

-Other times: Roosevelt Field, 60 CLB (middays), Hempstead via N27 route.

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You know, maybe people want to take the commuter train into the city?

 

 

Maybe they don't want to ride a bus although it's cheaper and slower? Traffic could be a bitch, y'know? Maybe they're willing to spend the extra couple of dollars for a one-seat trip to the inner city, maybe they're happy with their train?

 

Not what I was getting at. I meant bus as a feeder to the train from where they live not as an alternative to the train. The bus will never compete with the train except at rush hour in reverse direction. I meant buses like N24 could have taken ppl from their LIRR to jobs in nassau hub if scheduled better. Heck even an extension to bellmore would have gave it literally 3different functions.

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:P

 

hi

 

it is on the internet site now on Tuesday at 2 pm

 

Can someone get a copy of the report with the drawings ---i do not have a computer available ..

 

 

this request came a friends computer

 

 

i willl pay for postage----i live in westchester

 

thank you

 

 

steve

fdny

 

 

 

 

 

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N24 replaces the N78/79 between Hicksville and Minoela. This has both huge pluses and minues. The advantages is that for 1st time riders along the busy Old Country Road coordior have a direct bus to Queens. Big negative is that this new N24 route is subject to bus bunching/delays.

 

My takes is this.

Veoila should just run a 'shuttle route' between East Meadow/Uniondale and Minoela.

N24 should also have 'limited stop' service such as the N20 and N22.

The N79 should still run between RFM and Walt Whitman at least weekdays as a 'back-up' in case the "N24" is delayed.

reactions?

 

I'm worrying about the bunching issue too. Old Country Rd is a lot more crowded than Prospect Av and Jericho Tpk is worse than Hillside Ave.

 

As for the conversion of the N78/N79 to a glorified shuttle, it will artificially drive up the cost per passenger since you're only keeping the expensive part of the route. And the reduction of midday service to hourly will only diminish ridership. I hope they don't reduce the weekend span of service, it's already way too small.

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:P

 

hi

 

it is on the internet site now on Tuesday at 2 pm

 

Can someone get a copy of the report with the drawings ---i do not have a computer available ..

 

 

this request came a friends computer

 

 

i willl pay for postage----i live in westchester

 

thank you

 

 

steve

fdny

 

 

 

 

 

That makes absolutely no sense, whatever the hell you're talking about.

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I'm worrying about the bunching issue too. Old Country Rd is a lot more crowded than Prospect Av and Jericho Tpk is worse than Hillside Ave.

 

As for the conversion of the N78/N79 to a glorified shuttle, it will artificially drive up the cost per passenger since you're only keeping the expensive part of the route. And the reduction of midday service to hourly will only diminish ridership. I hope they don't reduce the weekend span of service, it's already way too small.

 

Amtrak if it were up to me riding the N24/N79 over the years this is what i would do.

 

Weekdays

N24 operates as a 'limited' the entire length between Hicksille and Jamaica from appx. 6am-9pm. All stops 9pm-Midnight(last bus)

Every 15-20 minutes rush hours and every 20-30 minutes middays/evenings. Every Hour appx. 10pm-Midnight.

 

I would create a new "N5" running weekdays only between East Meadow/RFM and Jamaica as the Jericho Turnpike local weekdays 6am-9pm. Every 15 minutes rush hours and every 20 minutes middays/evenings 7-9pm.

 

N79 runs between Walt Whitman and RFM via Old Country Road.

Rush Hours every 20 minutes and middays every 30 minutes.

 

N78 rush hours only between Hicksville and.

 

 

Weekends

N24 Hicksville-RFM-Jamaica Local via Old Country Road and Jericho.

Saturdays appx. 10am-8pm 'short trips' running only between between Jamaica and RFM.

 

Saturday N24 headways

Hicksville-RFM-Jamaica

6am-8am

40 minutes

8am-8pm

40 minutes (every 20 minutes between RFM and Jamaica)

8pm-Midnight

60 minutes

 

Sundays

8am-11am

60 minutes

11am-7pm

30 minutes

7pm-11pm(last bus)

60 minutes

 

 

N79 (Saturdays only)between RFM and Walt Whitman.

Sundays "N79" runs only between Hicksville and RFM.

I do agree with amtrak this could be part of a masterplan to down the road, totally end the "N78/79."

 

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After checkin out those PDF's....

 

 

- unfortunately, an n24 extension & the n78/79 cutback to LIRR hicksville I (and a few others) saw coming.... this move may have to do w/ how unreliable 22's were, towards queens... but I still don't think the n78/79 should've been used as scapegoats b/c of that.... at least one of those routes should've remained heading to mineola.... n24 ltd anyone ?

 

- n16 truncation is what some of us (myself included) suggested should happen anyway...

 

- so they actually decided to keep the n2 & 8 & turn it into a loop... *shrugs* guess that could work...

 

- not for nothin, but sending 43's to HTC I can agree with....

 

- that whole n23/27 thing... I get that they're addressing redundancy issues (or what the MTA would deem as being "duplicative"), but cutting off peak 27's to LIRR roslyn & extending some 23's to RFM, etc... and having the peak 23's still serve LIRR Mineola..... that's just complicating things....

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Nassau bus riders lament planned cuts

Long Island Item

 

Riders at the bus station in Hempstead had a few things to say about Veolia Transportation and how it runs the bus system. Nice things.

 

More than a dozen riders interviewed Monday morning and afternoon praised the new operator -- which assumed management of Nassau County's bus routes in January.

 

"The buses are cleaner and the drivers seem to be kinder and more compassionate, too, especially with handicapped riders," said Debbie Mitchell of Uniondale , who was waiting for a bus to Mineola .

 

"They're doing a great job," another rider, a young man, said just before grabbing up his yellow backpack and joining the fast-moving line for the bus to Roosevelt Field.

 

But while riders heaped praise on the company -- as compared with what the buses looked like under Metropolitan Transit Authority stewardship -- most said they knew nothing about plans, announced last week, to selectively trim back service.

 

"Did I see the sign?" echoed Gerald Ford (yes, like the late president, but with "D" as a middle initial). "What sign?"

 

We walked back into the Rosa Parks bus terminal together, where I pointed out two signs advertising meetings this week about Veolia's intention to "redesign" the bus system -- which includes some service reductions.

 

There are also signs on buses advertising the meetings -- although, despite a large number of riders speaking Spanish as they waited for buses, I did not see any signs in Spanish.

 

"The bus works fine for me," said Ford , who rides six days a week from his home in Freeport to a job at Adelphi University .

 

"I didn't know about meetings or the reductions," he said. "I hope the reductions don't affect me, but even if they don't, they're going to affect other people and that's not a good thing."

 

Demetrice Bowens of Hempstead takes the bus to her physical therapist in Lynbrook two times a week. She has a car. But Bowens can't drive since she broke her right leg -- in three places -- in August and then hurt her rotator cuff in a January auto accident (she was not driving).

 

"The buses are cleaner, they get me where I need to go and they're on time," she said. "I haven't got any complaints."

 

She said she saw a television report on the company's plans to make changes. "I understand what they are saying," she said. "But it's going to be hard on this leg if I have to wait longer for a bus, especially if I miss a bus and have to wait for the next one."

 

Riders aren't the only ones concerned. Donald Astrab, president of Nassau Community College , and Legis. Judy Jacobs, a Democratic county lawmaker from Woodbury , fired off letters after hearing about the company's plans.

 

Jacobs said she'd planned to ask the company to expand services to the disabled. "I have to say I didn't expect to hear about cuts so soon," she said.

 

Astrab said that many of NCC's students use buses; and that the planned changes -- slated to take effect April 8 -- would hit students in the middle of the semester.

 

"If, in the middle of the semester, service cutbacks reduce the frequency of buses . . . ," he wrote, "then those cutbacks could affect students' ability to attend the classes that they have already paid for and are already in the process of taking."

 

It was cold and windy as Mitchell, a coat pulled tightly around her, watched her bus pull into the station. She said she understands Veolia's need to bridge a budget gap, but lamented that reductions would come so quickly.

 

"Everybody is still in the process of getting to know each other," she said, referring to riders and the company. "Everything is going so good."

 

The trick for Veolia -- especially with cash-strapped Nassau's refusal to properly fund county bus service -- is to keep it going the same way.

 

Riders demand better NICE Bus service

Top Stories Item

 

A newly formed watchdog group of Nassau bus riders released its demands Tuesday for better service from NICE Bus -- the day before the system's private operator will unveil plans to reduce service on some routes.

 

At a news conference outside the Garden City headquarters of Nassau Inter-County Express Bus, the Long Island Bus Riders' Union released its report titled "From Privatization to Discrimination," which pointed out ways it says the system's new bus operator, Veolia Transportation, is not adequately serving some of its riders.

 

Veolia took over operation of the county system on Jan. 1 from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority , which had run it since 1973.

 

The watchdog group's report notes that Veolia did not properly notify residents who speak Spanish or are vision-impaired of its plans to hold community meetings Wednesday and Thursday about cutting some service to fill a $7.3-million budget gap. Veolia published its notifications only in English, the group said.

 

The report presented several "no-to-low cost" improvements to service, including keeping a constant stock of bus schedules at terminals, stops and buses, keeping audible announcements on all buses for each stop, and making its schedules and customer service phone line available in languages other than English.

 

The riders' union also called on Veolia to be mindful of all its customers when enacting planned service changes, which the company has said will target lines with low ridership.

 

"We're concerned about the way that the service cuts are going to impact people who ride buses not just during working hours," said Charlene Obernauer, executive director of Long Island Jobs for Justice, which organized the riders' union.

 

"Bus riders don't just rely on the bus to go to work," she said. "They rely on the bus to go everywhere."

 

NICE Bus, on a notice posted on its website, said it will not eliminate any of the 48 lines it took over from the MTA but will put fewer buses on "routes that are least used by customers and are thus the most expensive to operate." Any approved changes would take effect in early April.

 

Michael Setzer, chief executive of NICE Bus, said in an interview last week that company officials believe the proposed changes will cover the budget gap and avoid further cuts this year.

 

"We knew that we were going to start the year at one level and we were going to have to find more ... [money] over the year," Setzer said. "We've managed to squeeze a lot of costs out, but we still have some work to do."

 

Veolia has cut costs by $35 million compared with the MTA's projected costs if it were still running the system this year, he said. A new fuel purchase contract saved $800,000 a year and eliminating some jobs reduced compensation costs.

 

And at the community meeting, I am going to propose alternate ways to save money other than rearranging all the routes that just confuses the riders.

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- that whole n23/27 thing... I get that they're addressing redundancy issues (or what the MTA would deem as being "duplicative"), but cutting off peak 27's to LIRR roslyn & extending some 23's to RFM, etc... and having the peak 23's still serve LIRR Mineola..... that's just complicating things....

 

That's blatant rule avoidance/loophole abuse: they're keeping the peak service pretty much as is to comply with the rule/their promise that no segment will lose service at all times.

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That makes absolutely no sense, whatever the hell you're talking about.

 

He want to get copy of NICE Booklet of proposed schedule change/service and express like when it was LIB day, MTA had booklet of list of LIB Service Cut.

 

Spikecat54, I not sure if NICE provides booklets because on last Nassau County Public Hearing, Veolia did not had booklets for information of NICE plan booklet available for copy.

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