Nassau Democrats propose increasing funding for NICE by $4M

[PinePower]

Hopefully Mangano & co won't stand in the way
 
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/democrats-eye-hike-in-county-s-nice-contribution-1.6302801
 
Nassau Democrats want to more than double the county's contribution to the NICE Bus system next year.

The $4 million hike -- bringing the Nassau subsidy to $6.6 million -- is among a list of amendments to County Executive Edward Mangano's proposed 2014 budget. The legislature will consider the amendments on Monday.

Legis. Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury) proposed increasing the county's contribution to its Nassau Inter-County Express. NICE, which is operated by Veolia Transportation, has an annual budget of $113 million, with $2.6 million currently funded by the county.

Jacobs said the funds could help restore some service cuts, including to NICE's Able-Ride, which provides door-to-door transportation for disabled riders near a regular bus route. In 2010, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which previously operated the county's bus system, eliminated Able-Ride in most of northeastern Nassau.

"I know that it's not enough for all the problems that have been brought to our attention, but I'm also aware that it's important to keep this in the limelight," Jacobs said of the proposed increase.

Ryan Lynch, associate director of the nonprofit Tri-State Transportation Campaign, which earlier this month asked the county to increase its bus subsidy, said the extra $4 million would fund about 46,000 additional service hours.

The bus subsidy increase and other amendments to the $2.8 billion budget would need the support of at least one lawmaker from the Republican Party, which controls the legislature. Legis. Denise Ford (R-Long Beach) said she will give the proposal for increased bus funding "strong consideration" after seeing specifics on how it would be paid for.

"I'm actually open to these recommendations," Ford said, adding that if the legislature could not come up with the full $4 million, it may still be able to increase the subsidy by a smaller amount. "I do believe in the bus system."

Nassau Democrats submitted 22 budget amendments, which they claim would save taxpayers more than $26 million by streamlining operations and reducing salaries.

The GOP controls the legislature by a 10-9 advantage. Past Democratic budget amendments have not secured the GOP votes needed for passage. Presiding Officer Norma Gonsalves (R-East Meadow) declined to comment on the newly submitted amendments, including a provision that would reduce the county executive's pay by $65,000.

The salary was increased by $65,000 in 2007 by a legislative task force, which said then-Democratic County Executive Thomas Suozzi was paid less than Suffolk's executive. Republican County Executive Edward Mangano, who defeated Suozzi in 2009, has continued to accept the same $174,000 salary.

Mangano declined to comment on the Democrats' amendments.

The Democrats would also merge the comptroller's office with the treasurer's, realigning administrative duties and eliminating eight appointed positions. Other amendments would decrease the salaries of legislative staffers and cut the county clerk's budget by 15 percent.

[Turbo19]

Could this finally be the resolution to the many problems that plague NICE?

[N6 Limited]

The key word here is "propose". This will be proposed in the hopes that a democrat is elected next month. Then it will dissipate. 

[PinePower]

The key word here is "propose". This will be proposed in the hopes that a democrat is elected next month. Then it will dissipate. 

 

Mangano and the Republicans can score some points by agreeing to increase funding, even if it isn't the full 4 million. The cuts need to be completely restored they are holding back ridership.

[Orion VII 4 Life]

Removal of AbleRide outside an area within 3/4 mile of a fixed route bus is perfectly legal, done everywhere and in many cases necessary. If I was them, I'd be more focused on restoring and increasing fixed route service... restoring MTA doomsday cuts, more express services and frequent headways on busier routes, etc.

[Vistausss]

@Orion: I don't think more express service will help solve the problems. Unless they finally tweak the traffic lights for better traffic flow and/or install those bus priority lights. Then it's a quite good idea.

[N6 Limited]

Mangano and the Republicans can score some points by agreeing to increase funding, even if it isn't the full 4 million. The cuts need to be completely restored they are holding back ridership.

Cuts don't always need to be restored.

 

Sometimes the cuts were necessary and a budget "crisis" is the perfect scapegoat. We've seen that the MTA cuts some services that are a huge drain on their budget, (ie empty/light late night bus service on some routes, etc). So they make the cuts during a "budget crisis" and people complain but they "understand". But once there is an inkling that the MTA has a surplus, people ask to restore these money draining service cuts, for some reason. 

 

NICE does not need to "completely" or "fully" restore any cuts if the result is a bunch of empty buses rolling around the county.

[Burrstone]

The key word here is "propose". This will be proposed in the hopes that a democrat is elected next month. Then it will dissipate. 

 

Exactly the first thing I thought when I first saw the article at newsday last night was a Democrat is fishing for votes, watch the funding "unexpectedly"disappear once in office or the following year.  

 

Could this finally be the resolution to the many problems that plague NICE?

 

With $4 million?  I doubt it, it's a drop in the bucket!  ...but still $4 million than NICE has had so I assume the passengers will see something out of it.  IMHO buy 10 new buses to replace some of the junkers that continually breakdown.

[Vistausss]

@Burrstone: $4M may be just a drop in the bucket but they could invest it wisely in, like you said, new buses but also other stuff that'll help improve OTP and maybe improve facilities for passengers (like better bus shelters, for example (and yes I know that's DOT's responsibility but they can't say no when they get money to do it)). Or maybe invest it in Bus Time (I mean NICE's WIP one) so that development can speed up a bit.

[PinePower]

Cuts don't always need to be restored.

 

Sometimes the cuts were necessary and a budget "crisis" is the perfect scapegoat. We've seen that the MTA cuts some services that are a huge drain on their budget, (ie empty/light late night bus service on some routes, etc). So they make the cuts during a "budget crisis" and people complain but they "understand". But once there is an inkling that the MTA has a surplus, people ask to restore these money draining service cuts, for some reason. 

 

NICE does not need to "completely" or "fully" restore any cuts if the result is a bunch of empty buses rolling around the county.

 

The majority of the cuts do need to be restored, particularly the n27 on weekends. The Roslyn Truntication has caused many riders to stop using it and use the LIRR, the remainder simply dont care or cant communicate. Those n23's south of Roslyn are packed, its a PITA and they should just put it back the way it was. The n27 on weekends was never empty and always had a large amt of young ppl using it for RF for work or shopping. Now most of them are gone except for day workers. Service cuts always result in declining ridership, look at what happened to the Port Washington line when they made weekend service every hour. Even the struggling south shore routes lost riders, the n73/74, n45,n50, & n51 used to have alot more commuters. Now they dont rely on these because the last bus is before 7pm. They'll drive to the station instead of risking a train delay and missing their bus resulting in a costly cab ride.

The 5:35 & 6:35pm n45 trips to Bellmore deadhead back to the yard, instead why not have them do another run? Same thing for the n50 & n73/74. NICE loves deadheading buses that could be carrying passengers just to keep the hours down, cant think of any other reason. Cutting service almost always results in ridership declines, which is why NICE lost so many riders after April 8th 2012. We already know they can do more with less so $4 Million would go a long way to better service and getting those riders we lost back. Certainly turning runs that deadhead from Bellmore, Merrick, & Wantagh to revenue service would have a minimal cost. 

3 years ago the n51s in the evening used to have 10-15 ppl using it to go home from Merrick LIRR to N.Merrick or even E.Meadow. Now with the last trip at 6:47pm instead of 7:34pm, we're lucky to get one or two. All the cuts need to be restored and schedules brought back to a level similar to LI Bus in 2011.

[Amtrak7]

Those darn republicans 

 

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/county-funding-increase-nixed-for-nice-bus-1.6334869

 

County funding increase nixed for NICE bus

 

Republican Nassau lawmakers on Monday shut down a proposal to boost funding for NICE Bus by $4 million, but vowed to do their part to increase support for the county transit system.

The increase in county aid for the Nassau Inter-County Express was included among several amendments offered by Democrats to County Executive Edward Mangano's proposed 2014 Nassau budget.

While rejecting the package of proposed amendments, which included cutting Mangano's salary, Republican majority members said at a Mineola meeting Monday that they would meet with Democrats to discuss increasing NICE aid.

Presiding Officer Norma Gonsalves (R-East Meadow) gave her "commitment that we will continue the dialogue to keep the NICE system going."

Nassau currently contributes $2.6 million to NICE's $113 million annual budget. The rest is made up by fare revenue and state subsidies. Transit advocates say increased aide by Nassau could help fill bus service gaps in some areas, including for disabled riders, and address other issues, such as technical glitches with MetroCards.

"We can ask ourselves how many million dollars we can afford . . . but I also think we have to ask what kind of bus system is acceptable for our residents," Charlene Obernauer, founder of the nonprofit Long Island Bus Riders Union said.

Ryan Lynch, associate director for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a transit policy group, said he was encouraged by Republicans' commitment to revisit the issue.

Lynch's group on Monday released a report on NICE's economic impact that concluded the system generates $191.5 million in economic activity in Nassau, or more than $73 for every dollar the County puts into it.

"This is a huge, huge economic boon for the county," Lynch told legislators. "There's a lot of bang for your buck in investing in transit."

Legis. Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury), who proposed the $4 million hike, said the prospect of increasing aid for NICE appears "more hopeful than it has been in the past," but added "does this translate into more service? I don't know."

[Turbo19]

Damn Reps, impeding progress as always.

[PinePower]

Not at all surprised since the Republicans are in control. At least they are willing to meet and maybe work out some sort of compromise. Still this is why I cant vote for Mr.Mangano. The county contribution is a joke and I know they can afford more.

[Turbo19]

Not at all surprised since the Republicans are in control. At least they are willing to meet and maybe work out some sort of compromise. Still this is why I cant vote for Mr.Mangano. The county contribution is a joke and I know they can afford more.

The last time a compromise was attempted Nassau County underfunded NICE by a good two million or so than what was originally proposed.

 

And speaking of Mangano, if I ever find myself back east (in which case I probably wouldn't be much in Nassau) there's no way in hell that I'll step onto a NICE parading that bastards name all over the county. I can't believe such display of narcissism is even entertained.