Random Thoughts Thread - Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE)

[John from Flushing]

I would like to go to the next public hearing, I travel from Flushing to Great Neck Li, most of the time i catch the N20, but if its later than 11pm, i have no problem walking down to northern blvd to little neck in front of the video store & catching the Q12. At least I have a back up, Some if many riders if they miss a bus they have to spend $ 20 dollars on a cab, just as i watched in that video, a bus rider shouldnt have to spend $20 on a cab.

[DetSMART45]

IMHO, a fare hike of a quarter is NOT going to solve maintenance issues, neither is it something that's going to put someone in the poorhouse.

First, the maintenance issue:

Don't go by MTA fares in any comparison.  MTA raising fares by a quarter brings in oodles more than the riding contingent on NICE.  And even if local bus/SBS/subway fares go up a quarter, there's lots to do with that added revenue over the bus and subway networks, so even that is a minor infusion in the grand scheme of things.  So if you take an average day's rider count and do some math, then spread that increased revenue over all of the buses and other non-revenue equipment necessary to make NICE run, it's not making that much of a dent.  The only way to fix maintenance deficiencies caused by funding issues is to revise the allocation of general funds.  As it is, at most transit agencies, if it is not for dedicated sales tax revenue, community taxation, or state/federal funds, farebox revenues don't even come close to covering operating costs.

Second, this idea of "unaffordability":

It's called personal choice.  Most people wouldn't bat an eye if cable or mobile phone plans go up every month -- or spending $4.00 every day for coffee in a fancy cup they can show off -- but if public transport fares go up a mere 25 cents, they're ready to tell everyone how they'll be hitting the soup kitchens.  Puhleeze.

As to this cab ride business, try this on for size:

In the northern fringes of Oakland County (one of the nation's most affluent), SMART has three routes (752, 753 and 756) which serve the blue-collar city of Pontiac.  The main bus route (450) connecting Pontiac to the south (toward Detroit) runs along Woodward Avenue.  For AM peak, six 450 buses run southbound from Pontiac before the first 756 brings customers in -- and it's not even the heaviest-used route for Pontiac.  The first 753, which picks up commuters from Flint (~40 miles to the north), doesn't even connect to a 450 going into downtown Detroit.

So, how do six/seven buses run southbound when the "feeder" buses aren't operating?  Customers obviously make other arrangements -- mostly cab rides.  It's obviously a priority to someone who needs a 5:05 or 5:25AM southbound bus to get to where it leaves from whatever way, and cabbing it is a necessary expense they opt to shoulder.

How long has this gone on, you ask?  Don't customers complain?  Has been scheduled this way for at least four to five years, possibly more (have to dig out the vintage schedules from the vault).  Must not be too many customers complaining, if it's been happening for that long of a period, because SMART does actually adjust schedules when customer loads are there.

If a $20 cab ride is necessary for that individual, then they need to plan accordingly, or investigate other methods of transport.  I've seen plenty of bus riders getting dropped off by other work associates, friends and family members, and we have a good amount who bike to/from the bus.  Personal choice is what it comes down to.  Remember that when you're at the cash register and throw the $1.00 Snickers bar on the counter to be rung up when you say 25 cents extra for a bus ride is excessive.

[John from Flushing]

Taking a cab ride is not a personal choice for some riders, they are forced to she'll

Out $20 on a cab ride to get to / from work when there scheduled bus does not arrive, in reality it's only a shiney quarter which is peanuts today, but the principle is if we the public keep paying more & more for a bus ride but the conditions do not

Get better & buses are still missing & breaking down. Yesterday I was talking with a senior lady at N21 bus stop

On Roosevelt ave, she brought it to my attention that nice needs better & brighter signs on there buses some of the seniors think it is a mta Q12 bus. I gave the senior the number on the back

Of the nice bus but the number said drivers wanted I'm

Sure it's the same number for the nice complaint

Hotline.

[mac5689]

 but the principle is if we the public keep paying more & more for a bus ride but the conditions do not

Get better & buses are still missing & breaking down.

Even if conditions did get better, that doesn't mean runs wouldn't be missed or buses won't break down. Sure there may not be as many as now, but they won't go away. I mean even with the best maintance in the world something could still break. 

[John from Flushing]

Once nice gets all new buses we will have less breakdowns.

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

Once nice gets all new buses we will have less breakdowns.

That's if they can maintain the buses properly. Sure, there can be less breakdowns. However, without the proper maintenance, that can not be guaranteed.

[FamousNYLover]

I did myself another daredevill bus-transit challenge to my favorite Golden Star Restaurant in Medford, NY by using n20 Hicksville, n79 South Hungtington, S54 Patchogue, S58 Riverhead, quick Whole Food shopping, then #3D Stony Brook, S71 Mastic-Shirley to Medford for quick 15 minute walk since I was walking very quick.

[John from Flushing]

Famous, nice trip, may I ask how long did the whole trip take one way? Also did you do trip

On one fare? If you did it on one fare than that is amazing & was each bus on time, late or no show thank you.

[FamousNYLover]

Famous, nice trip, may I ask how long did the whole trip take one way? Also did you do trip

On one fare? If you did it on one fare than that is amazing & was each bus on time, late or no show thank you.

I used Unlimited MetroCard on n20L, n79. I asked for MTA Paper Transfer for S54 bus, so I wouldn't had to paid $2.25 for Suffolk County Transit.

Then I paid $2.50 for S58 at Huntington Sq Mall, followed by quick Whole Food Shopping, then #3D Stony Brook driver switch my transfer, then S71 bus to Medford Av. He also gave me transfer to S61 Patchogue but I didn't want to risk missing train to Ronkonhoma, so after vegan luch at Golden Star restaurant, I took LIRR (I bought ticket at Hicksville since I had long wait between n20 and n79), then took n22 at Hicksville to n15 for Long Beach for meeting. Full detail in seperate thread in NICE Bus section.

[Burrstone]

Even if conditions did get better, that doesn't mean runs wouldn't be missed or buses won't break down. Sure there may not be as many as now, but they won't go away. I mean even with the best maintance in the world something could still break. 

 

Once nice gets all new buses we will have less breakdowns.

 

Even brand new buses break down, it happens.  

Edited August 28, 2015 by Burrstone

[FamousNYLover]

 http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau-county-lawmakers-seek-to-expand-bus-routes-for-disabled-1.10773913

Long Island

Nassau lawmakers seek to expand bus routes for disabled

Updated August 25, 2015 10:08 PM
By ALFONSO A. CASTILLO  alfonso.castillo@newsday.com

4 Reprints + -

An Able-Ride bus transports a patient from a medical facilty in Island Park. Photo Credit: Jim Staubitser, 2012

 

 

A pair of Nassau legislators, outraged that three blind bus riders were recently dropped off more than a mile from where they were going, are calling for changes to a federal law governing where paratransit vehicles can go.

 

Legis. Judith Jacobs (D-Woodbury) and Legis. Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove) last week wrote a letter to the Federal Transit Authority, asking the agency to reconsider a law that requires paratransit systems, such as Nassau's Able-Ride, to pick up and drop passengers only within a three-quarter-mile radius of a fixed bus route.

 

That restriction recently resulted in a group of blind Able-Ride customers having to be dropped off 1 1/2 miles from their final destination -- the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults in Sands Point, where they were invited to speak.

 

One of those riders, Steven Couzzo, said that the strict enforcement of the three-quarter-mile rule meant that he had to arrange to have a taxi meet his group, which included a guide dog, at a designated location on the outskirts of that radius.

 

"That was just as far as they were going," said, Couzzo, 60, of East Northport, who recalled being dropped off outside a senior living facility with no sidewalks. "We stood on the street and we had to wait."

In their letter, Jacobs and DeRiggi-Whitton blamed the "horrendous" three-quarter-mile rule for leaving the blind trio "at the mercy of a private cab service."

 

"In the interim, these vulnerable individuals were stranded," the lawmakers wrote. "That is simply unacceptable from a humanitarian point of view."

 

Jacobs and DeRiggi-Whitton asked FTA acting Administrator Therese McMillan to consider changing Americans with Disabilities Act regulations to allow paratransit users to be picked up and dropped at locations outside of a main bus line service area. "It is the humane thing to do," they wrote.

 

The FTA did not respond to a request for comment.

 

United Spinal Association president and chief operating officer James Weisman, who helped draft the Americans with Disabilities Act 25 years ago, said the law merely sets a minimum requirement for paratransit service areas.

 

"When the ADA was written, it was supposed to be the floor -- not the ceiling," Weisman said. "A locality can opt to provide paratransit to anyone it wants, at any time it wants, anywhere it wants. And that's what [Nassau] County did until [County Executive Edward] Mangano got elected."

 

Until 2010, Able-Ride did offer door-to-door service anywhere in Nassau. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operated Able-Ride until 2012, began strictly enforcing the three-quarter-mile radius because, it said, Nassau was not adequately funding its bus system. The change cut off most communities in northeast Nassau from Able-Ride.

 

The privately run Nassau Inter-County Express, or NICE, which took over Able-Ride from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said while it has discussed "creative solutions" with Jacobs, going back to providing paratransit service to all of Nassau without more funding would require "severely cutting fixed route service."

 

Mangano spokesman Brian Nevin said the county executive "shares the concerns expressed by advocates and the legislators."

"The administration contacted the operator -- whose contract was unanimously approved by the legislature with this level of service -- and the operator advises us that door-to-door service would cost taxpayers an additional $10 million annually," Nevin said.

 

Jacobs said she hoped the letter, also sent to state and federal lawmakers, could spark more funding to restore paratransit throughout Nassau.

 

"I don't believe that anyone had it as their initial goal that people would be left without Able-Ride in a quarter of the county," Jacobs said. "It just seems so cruel."

 

 

 

[John from Flushing]

Famous when you give Suffolk the nice bus paper transfer does he put it in the bus farebox for you?

[FamousNYLover]

Famous when you give Suffolk the nice bus paper transfer does he put it in the bus farebox for you?

Suffolk County Transit, Huntington Area Rapid Transit and City of Long Beach N69 Point Lookout bus drivers collected MTA Paper Transfer Slip because it cannot use on their farebox.

It's also same when CT Transit Route #11, I-Bus, Putnam Area Rapid Transit, Housatonic Area Rapid Transit and Tappan Zee Express drivers collects MTA Paper Transfer from Bee-Line Buses because it wouldn't work on their farebox.

[mac5689]

I did myself another daredevill bus-transit challenge to my favorite Golden Star Restaurant in Medford, NY by using n20 Hicksville, n79 South Hungtington, S54 Patchogue, S58 Riverhead, quick Whole Food shopping, then #3D Stony Brook, S71 Mastic-Shirley to Medford for quick 15 minute walk since I was walking very quick.

 

Why did you take the S58 to the 3D to the S71, why didn't you take the S58 to SCCC and just transfer to the S71 there? 

 

The S71 goes to Shirley, I have no idea why the sign says Mastic, it's annoying. 

[John from Flushing]

Famous, when is the Long Island Bus Riders Union going to take that bus ride from Queens to Montauk? 

[FamousNYLover]

Why did you take the S58 to the 3D to the S71, why didn't you take the S58 to SCCC and just transfer to the S71 there? 

 

The S71 goes to Shirley, I have no idea why the sign says Mastic, it's annoying. 

I had to stop by at Smith Haven Mall for Whole Food and Apple Store for Whole Food shopping.

Famous, when is the Long Island Bus Riders Union going to take that bus ride from Queens to Montauk? 

It already finished. It was Wed 8/19 and Thrs 8/20. We ended up at East Hampton Station because of 10:40 S92 Oriental Point #1015 came to Riverhead County Center 20 minutes late at 12:20 from 11:55 departure and he was taking lunch break until 2pm even thought he was suppose to leave to East Hampton at 1:40. So we didn't make to Montauk Lighthouse.

[John from Flushing]

Sorry to hear you guys didn't make it to the light house that bus should have went out & that driver shouldn't have been on a late lunch.

[FamousNYLover]

Sorry to hear you guys didn't make it to the light house that bus should have went out & that driver shouldn't have been on a late lunch.

S92 is almost 2-hour bus ride and sometimes driver need to use lunch break b/c it's longest bus in Suffolk County.

 

Now back to NICE Bus, I'm also planning to use NICE Bus and Suffolk County Transit to get to Splish Splash protest soon.

[Burrstone]

Famous when you give Suffolk the nice bus paper transfer does he put it in the bus farebox for you?

When I would commute on HART HART would collect SCT paper transfers, in the afternoon I'd pay for a paper transfer on HART which were like the old school SCT transfers. I'd hand the transfer to the SCT driver when I transferred and 50% would take it it, the other half would throw it in the trash can or point to the trash can to toss it myself.

[Burrstone]

A recent observation about NICE is that more drivers seem to call the people back up who don't pay the fare when they enter the bus. I love the attitude these people give the driver, hum excuse me, you're a scumbag not trying to pay the fare we all paid, drop the attitude. lol

 

Also I've noticed at major transfer points the dispatchers are doing a great job informing customers of gaps bc a bus broke down, and when the next bus will be coming.

 

I can't remember a dispatcher ever coming over during the LIB days and saying " anyone waiting for the nXX? That bus broke down, the next one is due in xx minutes..."

[Joel Up Front]

Wonder when NICE will release ridership figures and why they haven't in a while...

 

And what on earth would people be protesting about Splish Splash for?  Did someone fly off a slide?  I thought the park itself was strict with what you could do on the grounds.

[trainfan22]

A recent observation about NICE is that more drivers seem to call the people back up who don't pay the fare when they enter the bus. I love the attitude these people give the driver, hum excuse me, you're a scumbag not trying to pay the fare we all paid, drop the attitude. lol

 

Also I've noticed at major transfer points the dispatchers are doing a great job informing customers of gaps bc a bus broke down, and when the next bus will be coming.

 

I can't remember a dispatcher ever coming over during the LIB days and saying " anyone waiting for the nXX? That bus broke down, the next one is due in xx minutes..."

NICE higher ups must have seen PinePower's videos...

Edited August 29, 2015 by trainfan22

[John from Flushing]

There is still no dispatcher for the first stop on the N20-N21 Roosevelt ave in flushing, most likely nice busiest stop.

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

There is still no dispatcher for the first stop on the N20-N21 Roosevelt ave in flushing, most likely nice busiest stop.

Not at all. It's Hempstead Transit Center.

[John from Flushing]

Saw a fare beater on the N20 today at roosevelt ave. Driver said to passenger hey you, & passenger said he has no change. Driver said fare beaters are making Nice lose money. If i was the driver I would have said get off the bus i am not moving untill you pay or leave.