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Suffolk BRT (Nicolls Rd., Route 110 and Sagtikos PKWY would get rapid transit lanes)


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Bus plan for Suffolk's roads would cost $78 million

 

 
Nicolls, Route 110 and Sagtikos would get rapid transit lane

 

http://www.northshoreoflongisland.com/Articles-News-i-2014-07-31-100113.112114-sub-Bus-plan-for-Suffolks-roads-would-cost-78-million.html

 

 
By Rachel Shapiro
 
August 01, 2014 | 10:37 AM

A study on creating a bus rapid transit system on three of Suffolk's major roads has found that such a move would carry a $78 million price tag.

 

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone's initiative, Connect Long Island, calls for creating north-south transit opportunities, the focus of the Suffolk County Bus Rapid Transit Feasibility Study.

 

The federally funded feasibility study considered creating bus rapid transit - or BRT - service that would travel the 16 miles between Amityville Village and Halesite in Huntington Town via Route 110; and travel the 15 miles between Patchogue Village and the Stony Brook Long Island Rail Road station via Nicolls Road.

 

It would also travel the 17 miles between the Deer Park LIRR station and downtown Kings Park via the Sagtikos State Parkway, but only if the former Pilgrim State Hospital site in Brentwood is developed as Heartland Town Square development, a plan for 9,000 housing units as well as office and commercial space.

 

The rapid transit plan would require an estimated $78 million in capital improvements for the roads — $58 million without the Sagtikos State Parkway. Each hybrid bus would cost $600,000, included in the $78 million estimate. A Bellone spokesperson said a total of 31 buses would be uses: 13 on Route 110, nine on Nicolls Road and nine on the Sagtikos.

 

If pursued, the project would be done in phases based on demand and funding. The feasibility study estimates annual operating costs would be around $3 million for each road.

 

The rapid transit system would carry commuters between the south and north shores and stations would be located at busy sites, like universities, LIRR stations and major employment and housing sites.

 

The report touts the plan as one that would speed up travel times for BRT commuters, as the buses would have designated lanes to bypass traffic. It would also help the environment by reducing congestion and pollution, the report states.

 

The feasibility study notes that the rapid transit plan is part of a larger plan to encourage development.

 

"To truly transform a corridor's economy, BRT needs to be paired with local sustainable land use plans to facilitate transit-oriented development," the report states.

 

The report also expects that ridership on the existing local bus routes would increase as the BRT is implemented, as Bellone explained the expectation that people would rely more on mass transit overall.

 

The county would apply for state and federal grants to pay for its implementation if officials decide to move forward.

 

The county has already gotten federal and state funding for engineering analysis and planning on Nicolls Road and Bellone said planning for Nicolls Road has been underway for a while.

 

Nicolls is a priority for the county, Bellone said, because funding is in place to get started ahead of Route 110 and Sagtikos.

 

"It's a corridor that connects a lot of the significant assets in our region."

 

Stony Brook University and the Selden campus of Suffolk County Community College would be two major stops along that route.

 

This is "designed to build an ecosystem here of downtowns that are connected by public transportation," Bellone said.

 

He hopes Connect Long Island will "reverse the brain drain and build an innovation economy. It's a plan for the future that builds upon existing assets."

 

Legislature Minority Leader John Kennedy Jr. opposes the idea, calling it unnecessary.

 

"I am very much [not persuaded] that there is some overwhelming need to move people" up and down these corridors, he said. "I just think that this is a concept that would require a tremendous amount of investment."

 

He would possibly support "a drastically reduced and scaled-down investment" on Route 110, where the Town of Babylon has already done a study and where commercial development may warrant it.

 

"It's somewhat mind-numbing that we would be advancing that conceptually at a time when there is some very little demonstrated need for that," he said of the overall study.

 
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Legislature Minority Leader John Kennedy Jr. opposes the idea, calling it unnecessary.

 

"I am very much [not persuaded] that there is some overwhelming need to move people" up and down these corridors, he said. "I just think that this is a concept that would require a tremendous amount of investment."

 

He would possibly support "a drastically reduced and scaled-down investment" on Route 110, where the Town of Babylon has already done a study and where commercial development may warrant it.

 

"It's somewhat mind-numbing that we would be advancing that conceptually at a time when there is some very little demonstrated need for that," he said of the overall study.

 

Probably is one of those car snobs out on Long Island. Good idea though that this is being thought of.

 

Route 110 has the ridership, Nicholls Road has potential too. The sagtikos one seems interesting, I wish they could've had a summer extension to Moses state Park though. Extending it to Bay Shore would also give people another way to get to/from these areas. Now, what would the span of service be for these routes.

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I got very excited reading this... Then I read the comments on Newsday...  (Posted below for those who cant see it) I get reminded of why Long Island is not a place to live and every idiot will try to fight public transportation because of their stereotype....  If this doesn't go through, Suffolk deserves to die....

 

 

  • allroy421  6 days ago

    The only thing that will be 'Rapid' about this will be how rapidly the money finds its way to Belloney cronies.

  • EddieGiacomin  6 days ago

    Just look at Deer Park Avenue. I have never seen more than ten people on the many buses that clog DPA. The whole theory behind mass transit is "economies of scale." Mass transit economics are lost if a bus has only 8 people riding, The private operators who get subsidized by Suffolk County love it. Bellone will never understand it.

  • W. J.  6 days ago

    Nothing like coming up with another grandiose plan when you have no money to pay for what you have now. How much money will the government STEAL from the clean water program to finance this boondoggle? Enough is enough! 
    LOL, can't wait to see where these geniuses would locate bus stops on Sagtikos/Sunken Meadow Parkway!!

  • howcomeIcantpost  6 days ago

    This bus bs is never going to happen because this guy is out in 2015. Cuomo didn't want him and neither do the taxpayers of Suffolk County.

  • litwain  6 days ago

    Another one of the bumbling Bellone's grandiose, over-the-top, ridiculously expensive "visions". Can you imagine a dedicated bus lane on Route 110? That would only serve to further snarl traffic on an already impossibly choked up roadway. You can "vision" this all you want, Mr. Bellone. Long Islanders will most likely not abandon their vehicles for a bus that would not get them from their front doors to their jobs. The way Long Island was developed does not foster such a system. But, the inept Bellone just loves these visions, no matter how ineffective or costly. Just look at the poorly designed Tanger in Deer Park and the ever-growing Wyandanch Rising project that is costing taxpayers millions. Both are Bellone visions. Address the problems we have, Mr. Bellone, before you create new ones that will cost taxpayers more and more for decades to come.

      
  • bluesmanuno  6 days ago

    Anything...........Anything to get the illegal invaders off the highway with their bikes.

     

     

  • bgasser  6 days ago

    Why would someone from Deer Park want to travel up to Kings Park except during a summer weekend to possibly use Sunken Meadow? Seems like a waste of $300K.

    It would be great if the $78 million was instead used to add a 3rd lane on the Sunken Meadow/Sag Parkway between the LIE and Southern State for traffic. That would get some use.

  • MAGICBAG  7 days ago

    Idiotic plan. Most people on Long Island have cars. Only folks who don't drive are illegal immigrants or very old folks.

     

     

  • timeforchange  7 days ago

    $78M will turn into $300M in no time. 
    Go away Jack A.

  • Chimichanga  7 days ago

    This sounds awesome. I would much rather give tax dollars to pay for bus improvements than pay for 6500 random people to raise their homes.

     

     

    • howcomeIcantpost  Chimichanga  7 days ago

      It's not going to come from your tax dollars. This idiot will want to float a bond that will end up costing taxpayers ten times that. This guy is an idiot who has been using taxpayer money to line the pockets of his buddies. Nothing he does is in the best interest of the taxpayer.

  • Change  7 days ago

    Run the buses into NYC and it would be money well spent. LIRR needs some competition.

     

     

  • righteous1  7 days ago

    More money for the welfare crowd

     
  • If you live on Long Island you need a car. This a waste of money.

  • $78 million when he's already running a deficit and borrowing from water protection funds? Yikes!!

    Thinking about what would be needed for the extra lanes, I wonder if $78M would even do it.......

    •  
  • FedUpLI  7 days ago

    78 million??? Ballone...it would be cheaper to helicopter the 3 people who use the bus in Suffolk county anywhere they want to go.

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The sagtikos one seems interesting, 

 

Yes, indeed!  I thought the bridges were too low, they'll have to lower the dedicated lane for the bus...  

 

 

I wish they could've had a summer extension to Moses state Park though.

 

Hopefully, that's what I was thinking...  Kinda dumb if they didn't...

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I'd love to see how they would plan to keep cars out of the proposed bus lanes on Nicholls Road, not to mention how they would plan to build them. I mean Nicholls is a very busy, congested and dangours roadway. I mean a few years ago they had to alter the traffic at the intersection by the Farmingville County Center near SCCC-Selden, which cased the S58 and S71 to no longer use that short street to get to SCCC-Selden because that intersection was prone to accidents.

Not to mention that building it would be done in phases when funding is availible, and if it's one thing the county always seems to lack is funding, which was shown a few years ago when they raised fares to help cover the budget shortfall, and last I heard there was still going to be a budget deficiate. 

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I'd love to see how they would plan to keep cars out of the proposed bus lanes on Nicholls Road...

 

 

As with all roads, enforcement, cameras on the front of buses along with "redlight" type camera's along the route, tiktes would be mailed to the registered owners, which would also raise revenue for the county... I guess they could use barriers to divide the lanes but that would pose a problem if a bus broke down.

 

I see this lane being used by every idiot with volunteer firefighter with a blue light, I can just see these fools flying by in the BRT lane, these guys are dangerous enough on the island.

 

 

I'd love to see how they would plan to keep cars out of the proposed bus lanes on Nicholls Road, not to mention how they would plan to build them. I mean Nicholls is a very busy, congested and dangours roadway. I mean a few years ago they had to alter the traffic at the intersection by the Farmingville County Center near SCCC-Selden, which cased the S58 and S71 to no longer use that short street to get to SCCC-Selden because that intersection was prone to accidents.

 

Not to mention that building it would be done in phases when funding is availible, and if it's one thing the county always seems to lack is funding, which was shown a few years ago when they raised fares to help cover the budget shortfall, and last I heard there was still going to be a budget deficiate. 

 

I'm not very familiar with Nichols road, but it has been shown that opening roads up. making more lanes makes the road more dangerous, especially at grade roads with lights were traffic stops suddenly.  You have idiots going 60, 70+ mph changing lanes (which causes accidents or not being able to stop in time and crashing.  The easiest way to make a road safer would be to take away lanes, and slow down traffic....

 

These huge multi lane roads out east are ridiculous, I really hate going out there...  These roads are really the only option as there aren't as many options going the same way as there are in Nassau and even western Suffolk forcing everyone on the same road (causing the traffic problems).  These roads really need to be designed like sunrise highway (east of Babylon) highway like with exits on a service road...  there is room but I bet no one is willing to spend the money to save lives.

 

It amazes me how people in or near St.James are pushing to make a portion of 25 multi lanes so they can go faster and kill each other while people in or near Lindenhurst are pushing the state to turn a portion of Montauk Highway from a multi lane rd to a single lane in both directions with a turn lane in the middle to make it safer and save lives.

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As with all roads, enforcement, cameras on the front of buses along with "redlight" type camera's along the route, tiktes would be mailed to the registered owners, which would also raise revenue for the county... I guess they could use barriers to divide the lanes but that would pose a problem if a bus broke down.

 

I see this lane being used by every idiot with volunteer firefighter with a blue light, I can just see these fools flying by in the BRT lane, these guys are dangerous enough on the island.

 

 

 

I'm not very familiar with Nichols road, but it has been shown that opening roads up. making more lanes makes the road more dangerous, especially at grade roads with lights were traffic stops suddenly.  You have idiots going 60, 70+ mph changing lanes (which causes accidents or not being able to stop in time and crashing.  The easiest way to make a road safer would be to take away lanes, and slow down traffic....

 

These huge multi lane roads out east are ridiculous, I really hate going out there...  These roads are really the only option as there aren't as many options going the same way as there are in Nassau and even western Suffolk forcing everyone on the same road (causing the traffic problems).  These roads really need to be designed like sunrise highway (east of Babylon) highway like with exits on a service road...  there is room but I bet no one is willing to spend the money to save lives.

 

It amazes me how people in or near St.James are pushing to make a portion of 25 multi lanes so they can go faster and kill each other while people in or near Lindenhurst are pushing the state to turn a portion of Montauk Highway from a multi lane rd to a single lane in both directions with a turn lane in the middle to make it safer and save lives.

You slow down traffic then bus service reliability suffers. Your forgetting that buses also use these roads.

Probably is one of those car snobs out on Long Island. Good idea though that this is being thought of.

 

Route 110 has the ridership, Nicholls Road has potential too. The sagtikos one seems interesting, I wish they could've had a summer extension to Moses state Park though. Extending it to Bay Shore would also give people another way to get to/from these areas. Now, what would the span of service be for these routes.

If you been to Suffolk county you would know this plan is overkill. All they need to do is align some bus routes to these roads and reshape a few lines. However rte 110 does need a bus lane and maybe a few short stretches of Jericho tpk but only if bus service is improved frequency wise no point in hourly buses with their own lane.

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You slow down traffic then bus service reliability suffers. Your forgetting that buses also use these roads.

 

If you been to Suffolk county you would know this plan is overkill. All they need to do is align some bus routes to these roads and reshape a few lines. However rte 110 does need a bus lane and maybe a few short stretches of Jericho tpk but only if bus service is improved frequency wise no point in hourly buses with their own lane.

1.I doubt most of the buses are going on roads that he (Burrstone) is mentioning.

 

2. I have been to Suffolk. And what are your plans for this BRT...

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1.I doubt most of the buses are going on roads that he (Burrstone) is mentioning.

 

2. I have been to Suffolk. And what are your plans for this BRT...

Start off with frequent routes first. First BRT for rte 110. Then reorganized bus service around kings park and reducing redundant overlap. New express route that takes over parts of 6B between port Jefferson then to sccc express via Nicholls rd then sunrise Hwy stopping at sun vet mall and bay shore mall then absorb S42's route to Babylon OR continued to Babylon to replace S20. Then reshape S57,59& 56. And boosting S71 service for the northern portion of Nicholls rd. Better peak service on some lines.

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I see this lane being used by every idiot with volunteer firefighter with a blue light, I can just see these fools flying by in the BRT lane, these guys are dangerous enough on the island.

 

Coming from a family of volunteer Firefighters, one of which was serverly injured in an accident while responding in a department rig to a brushfire on the same road that we are talking about, I'm slightly offended by you labeling volenteer firefighters as idiots and fools. 

 

 

 

 

I'm not very familiar with Nichols road, but it has been shown that opening roads up. making more lanes makes the road more dangerous, especially at grade roads with lights were traffic stops suddenly.  You have idiots going 60, 70+ mph changing lanes (which causes accidents or not being able to stop in time and crashing.  The easiest way to make a road safer would be to take away lanes, and slow down traffic....

 

 

I don't know how to describe Nichols's other then that it's a muilt-lane highway that it's prone to having alot of accidents, like the one invoving before involving a relative who was responding to a fire in a firetruck, and that happened back in like the 70's or some time around there. 

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Coming from a family of volunteer Firefighters, one of which was serverly injured in an accident while responding in a department rig to a brushfire on the same road that we are talking about, I'm slightly offended by you labeling volenteer firefighters as idiots and fools. 

 

I apologize if my sentence made you believe I was referring to ALL volunteer fire fighters, (even with a typo, my sentence doesn't read that, I'm sorry YOU read into that).  I however will not apologize for and I have no problems labeling the idiots and fools as such. I have seen very dangerous behavior from people with blue lights along with aggressive behavior, tailgating, trying to get people to pull;l over, speeding, blowing reds, going around people like they are in an emergency vehicle. You know as well as I do this is not allowed with a blue light, the light is just a courtesy light so the public can yield if they choose too.  Instead of being offended at me for pointing out what I see, maybe you should be offended by the dangerous idiots who are going to kill somebody on the way to a help...

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Bus plan for Suffolk's roads would cost $78 million

 
Nicolls, Route 110 and Sagtikos would get rapid transit lane

 

http://www.northshoreoflongisland.com/Articles-News-i-2014-07-31-100113.112114-sub-Bus-plan-for-Suffolks-roads-would-cost-78-million.html

 

 
By Rachel Shapiro
 
August 01, 2014 | 10:37 AM

A study on creating a bus rapid transit system on three of Suffolk's major roads has found that such a move would carry a $78 million price tag.

 

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone's initiative, Connect Long Island, calls for creating north-south transit opportunities, the focus of the Suffolk County Bus Rapid Transit Feasibility Study.

 

The federally funded feasibility study considered creating bus rapid transit - or BRT - service that would travel the 16 miles between Amityville Village and Halesite in Huntington Town via Route 110; and travel the 15 miles between Patchogue Village and the Stony Brook Long Island Rail Road station via Nicolls Road.

 

It would also travel the 17 miles between the Deer Park LIRR station and downtown Kings Park via the Sagtikos State Parkway, but only if the former Pilgrim State Hospital site in Brentwood is developed as Heartland Town Square development, a plan for 9,000 housing units as well as office and commercial space.

 

The rapid transit plan would require an estimated $78 million in capital improvements for the roads — $58 million without the Sagtikos State Parkway. Each hybrid bus would cost $600,000, included in the $78 million estimate. A Bellone spokesperson said a total of 31 buses would be uses: 13 on Route 110, nine on Nicolls Road and nine on the Sagtikos.

 

If pursued, the project would be done in phases based on demand and funding. The feasibility study estimates annual operating costs would be around $3 million for each road.

 

The rapid transit system would carry commuters between the south and north shores and stations would be located at busy sites, like universities, LIRR stations and major employment and housing sites.

 

The report touts the plan as one that would speed up travel times for BRT commuters, as the buses would have designated lanes to bypass traffic. It would also help the environment by reducing congestion and pollution, the report states.

 

The feasibility study notes that the rapid transit plan is part of a larger plan to encourage development.

 

"To truly transform a corridor's economy, BRT needs to be paired with local sustainable land use plans to facilitate transit-oriented development," the report states.

 

The report also expects that ridership on the existing local bus routes would increase as the BRT is implemented, as Bellone explained the expectation that people would rely more on mass transit overall.

 

The county would apply for state and federal grants to pay for its implementation if officials decide to move forward.

 

The county has already gotten federal and state funding for engineering analysis and planning on Nicolls Road and Bellone said planning for Nicolls Road has been underway for a while.

 

Nicolls is a priority for the county, Bellone said, because funding is in place to get started ahead of Route 110 and Sagtikos.

 

"It's a corridor that connects a lot of the significant assets in our region."

 

Stony Brook University and the Selden campus of Suffolk County Community College would be two major stops along that route.

 

This is "designed to build an ecosystem here of downtowns that are connected by public transportation," Bellone said.

 

He hopes Connect Long Island will "reverse the brain drain and build an innovation economy. It's a plan for the future that builds upon existing assets."

 

Legislature Minority Leader John Kennedy Jr. opposes the idea, calling it unnecessary.

 

"I am very much [not persuaded] that there is some overwhelming need to move people" up and down these corridors, he said. "I just think that this is a concept that would require a tremendous amount of investment."

 

He would possibly support "a drastically reduced and scaled-down investment" on Route 110, where the Town of Babylon has already done a study and where commercial development may warrant it.

 

"It's somewhat mind-numbing that we would be advancing that conceptually at a time when there is some very little demonstrated need for that," he said of the overall study.

 

What a ridiculous idea. Does this guy really think that Long Island drivers are going to abandon their cars to ride a bus?

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I apologize if my sentence made you believe I was referring to ALL volunteer fire fighters, (even with a typo, my sentence doesn't read that, I'm sorry YOU read into that).  I however will not apologize for and I have no problems labeling the idiots and fools as such. I have seen very dangerous behavior from people with blue lights along with aggressive behavior, tailgating, trying to get people to pull;l over, speeding, blowing reds, going around people like they are in an emergency vehicle. You know as well as I do this is not allowed with a blue light, the light is just a courtesy light so the public can yield if they choose too.  Instead of being offended at me for pointing out what I see, maybe you should be offended by the dangerous idiots who are going to kill somebody on the way to a help...

I'm not asking you to apologize for what you said nor would I want you to. I know that you saw things, which I have never seen. (Ie Volunteer's acting erraticly while driving to the fire house or maybe a scene) which resulted in you refering to those vounteers as fools and ideiots. I think it's my insight as to why they may have done that, and tand a sence that if someone says something negitive about one firefighter then you say something negitive about all of them, which caused my response. (I mean my grandmother didn't like Newsday over negitive stuff stuff about Volunteers they posted in the past before she died.)

 

I don't condone any dangours acts committed by firefighter getting to the firehouse or to the scene. Like I said though it's more of my understanding of why they may act like that. Like getting to the firehouse quick enough to get a crew to the scene especially if it's a major fire. (I mean the public has shown time and time again that they don't like long respnse times, which happens when it takes time to get a crew together and if they have to obey traffic laws while getting to the firehouse or if they head stright to the scene.) 

 

 

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What a ridiculous idea. Does this guy really think that Long Island drivers are going to abandon their cars to ride a bus?

 

Older people like you who are set in their ways?  No.  But they probably expect places around the country that aren't NYC that are choosing BRT to have ridership, yes.

 

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Older people like you who are set in their ways?  No.  But they probably expect places around the country that aren't NYC that are choosing BRT to have ridership, yes.

 

 

Owned hehe. Nice one. I will read it soon.

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Older people like you who are set in their ways?  No.  But they probably expect places around the country that aren't NYC that are choosing BRT to have ridership, yes.

 

 

Not on Long Island. It's too anti-mass transit.

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Not on Long Island. It's too anti-mass transit.

Poor fare structure in Suffolk abysmal peak service. And poor access to job sites in Nassau from several areas shitastic LIRR connections ain't helping cause all the marketing is doing is exposing how bad the system truly is. Breakdowns on the buses that do get used is like oil over an open flame. However I did speak with LIRR riders that rode buses in Suffolk which surprised me. You know it's bad when getting a ride from a stranger on the train is as easy as talking to yourself about using a connecting bus loudly for people to hear.

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Not on Long Island. It's too anti-mass transit.

 

The corridors in question sound promising though; Stony Brook in particular has a fairly large residential population of students without cars which would be very happy to have a way to get to the South Shore.

 

Suffolk has crap mass transit because frequencies are hourly on many routes that would otherwise get decent ridership, but to their credit the county provides more funding, total, than Nassau does for its system (most of the money for NICE comes from the State, which is something I don't understand; the State should really provide matching funding instead of the weird system that exists now). I would be very happy if these routes were done, but I'd also be very happy if we went through a round of increasing frequencies on bus routes and improving bus stops with better signage, bus stops, etc.

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The corridors in question sound promising though; Stony Brook in particular has a fairly large residential population of students without cars which would be very happy to have a way to get to the South Shore.

 

Suffolk has crap mass transit because frequencies are hourly on many routes that would otherwise get decent ridership, but to their credit the county provides more funding, total, than Nassau does for its system (most of the money for NICE comes from the State, which is something I don't understand; the State should really provide matching funding instead of the weird system that exists now). I would be very happy if these routes were done, but I'd also be very happy if we went through a round of increasing frequencies on bus routes and improving bus stops with better signage, bus stops, etc.

 

The system is crap because the system is under funded, County Executive Steve Ballone has been fighting for funding or at least bitching to the news about it).  Suffolk has been getting the short end of the stick for years.

 

The study I posted obviously shows the younger generation prefers area with better mass transit...  People like Hound are stuck in their centric era (fuel my v8, fuel my pension), the younger generations will be paying for the poor decisions of the baby boomers (and generations before) for years.  People like Hound vote out politicians who want to spend "their" tax dollars on the transportation the younger craves, because in their mind they couldn't fathom that people would want to use public transportation.  It's ironic because these people built a decent transportation system in the city and with Long Island Bus.  But after listening to these people it is obvious things like the LIRR and LIB were built to give these people jobs.  No education?  No skills? That's okay, they can drive a bus or punch tickets and earn $100,000 grand a year, they don't need medical school or law school, they are entitled to a piece of the pie.  They didn't care about who would pay for their ridiculous pension scheme, pay for non reusable fossil fuels they were burning in their muscle cars, finding alternative energy sources...  They didn't care about any of that, let the younger generations worry about it, as long as they got theirs.

 

Brett, Pine, Yuki you guys were at the Nassau Transit Committee meeting in July, what's the three largest expenses in NICE's budget ?  Salaries, benefits, and fuel...  Hmmm...

 

So now people like hound are not only out of touch with why the younger generation would want to take public transportation and be green, but these are the people that make comments on Newsday about not wanting to subsidize bus service with "their" tax dollars.  Really? Like these people haven't been handed anything in life?  Like a bus driving job making, 60, 70, 80, 100 grand a year...

 

"not with my tax dollars" "nobody takes (the underfunded) bus" Taxes are so high on Long Island because salaries, pensions, and benefits are out of control in every government controlled entity.  Then you don't fund what young people want, they move to area's that have it,along with their tax dollars.  What a concept.  Then young entrepreneurs or companies looking for a select workforce moves to these areas, along with their tax dollars.  (Not to mention tax incentives that other states gives that NY doesn't but that's a discussion for another day). 

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The system is crap because the system is under funded, County Executive Steve Ballone has been fighting for funding or at least bitching to the news about it).  Suffolk has been getting the short end of the stick for years.

 

The study I posted obviously shows the younger generation prefers area with better mass transit...  People like Hound are stuck in their centric era (fuel my v8, fuel my pension), the younger generations will be paying for the poor decisions of the baby boomers (and generations before) for years.  People like Hound vote out politicians who want to spend "their" tax dollars on the transportation the younger craves, because in their mind they couldn't fathom that people would want to use public transportation.  It's ironic because these people built a decent transportation system in the city and with Long Island Bus.  But after listening to these people it is obvious things like the LIRR and LIB were built to give these people jobs.  No education?  No skills? That's okay, they can drive a bus or punch tickets and earn $100,000 grand a year, they don't need medical school or law school, they are entitled to a piece of the pie.  They didn't care about who would pay for their ridiculous pension scheme, pay for non reusable fossil fuels they were burning in their muscle cars, finding alternative energy sources...  They didn't care about any of that, let the younger generations worry about it, as long as they got theirs.

 

Brett, Pine, Yuki you guys were at the Nassau Transit Committee meeting in July, what's the three largest expenses in NICE's budget ?  Salaries, benefits, and fuel...  Hmmm...

 

So now people like hound are not only out of touch with why the younger generation would want to take public transportation and be green, but these are the people that make comments on Newsday about not wanting to subsidize bus service with "their" tax dollars.  Really? Like these people haven't been handed anything in life?  Like a bus driving job making, 60, 70, 80, 100 grand a year...

 

"not with my tax dollars" "nobody takes (the underfunded) bus" Taxes are so high on Long Island because salaries, pensions, and benefits are out of control in every government controlled entity.  Then you don't fund what young people want, they move to area's that have it,along with their tax dollars.  What a concept.  Then young entrepreneurs or companies looking for a select workforce moves to these areas, along with their tax dollars.  (Not to mention tax incentives that other states gives that NY doesn't but that's a discussion for another day). 

Yeah-I guess it's all the fault of people like me,wanting to better myself with a decent job & benefits instead of a career at McDonald's. You must be an Obama supporter.

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Yeah-I guess it's all the fault of people like me,wanting to better myself with a decent job & benefits instead of a career at McDonald's. You must be an Obama supporter.

 

You crack me up...  I guess the difference between the generations is that you took what you wanted and didn't care who would have to pay for it.

 

I can understand wanting to do better for yourself, a decent job, good benefits, a career better than McDonalds, but instead of going out and working for it or getting an education your generation created high paying jobs driving buses and  punching tickets on a train.  Now before we go any further, i'm not calling drivers uneducated, I've met very educated drivers with bachelors degrees, masters degree's, I even knew a practicing attorney that drove a school bus.  He put himself through law school driving a school bus and enjoyed it, so much so that when it came time to open his practice and later on be semi retired he allowed himself the time to do his morning run and after noon run. lol  The point is the position doesn't require an education but your generation not only wanted to create a decent job out of it, you had to greedily make it so it was a better paying job than most careers requiring a college education.  You whine about how bad NICE is, I read somewhere the average salary of a college graduate  just starting out in their career is aprx $15/hr..   Nice starts out paying more than that, and if someone started today they'd probably be making just under $70,000 a year when they hit top pay...  So why did you leave NICE?  $67,000 a year wasn't good enough for you?  At what point is Mangano right? At what point is too much for a bus driver, for the tax payers to support?

 

 

Yeah-I guess it's all the fault of people like me,wanting to better myself with a decent job & benefits instead of a career at McDonald's. 

 

As I write this the generations might not be so different. You have the burger flippers wanting $15 an hour,the same hourly rate as a recent college graduate just starting their career.  Maybe since the transit agency are tapped the unions can try to make a few bucks by unionizing the workforce.  Could this be the generation of $60,000, $70,000,.. $80,000, $115,000 top paid sandwich artists?

 

 

You must be an Obama supporter.

 

What does Obama have to do with this? He went to and graduated Harvard Law School, we wasn't handed a high paying job driving a bus or punching tickets...

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You crack me up...  I guess the difference between the generations is that you took what you wanted and didn't care who would have to pay for it.

 

I can understand wanting to do better for yourself, a decent job, good benefits, a career better than McDonalds, but instead of going out and working for it or getting an education your generation created high paying jobs driving buses and  punching tickets on a train.  Now before we go any further, i'm not calling drivers uneducated, I've met very educated drivers with bachelors degrees, masters degree's, I even knew a practicing attorney that drove a school bus.  He put himself through law school driving a school bus and enjoyed it, so much so that when it came time to open his practice and later on be semi retired he allowed himself the time to do his morning run and after noon run. lol  The point is the position doesn't require an education but your generation not only wanted to create a decent job out of it, you had to greedily make it so it was a better paying job than most careers requiring a college education.  You whine about how bad NICE is, I read somewhere the average salary of a college graduate  just starting out in their career is aprx $15/hr..   Nice starts out paying more than that, and if someone started today they'd probably be making just under $70,000 a year when they hit top pay...  So why did you leave NICE?  $67,000 a year wasn't good enough for you?  At what point is Mangano right? At what point is too much for a bus driver, for the tax payers to support?

 

 

 

As I write this the generations might not be so different. You have the burger flippers wanting $15 an hour,the same hourly rate as a recent college graduate just starting their career.  Maybe since the transit agency are tapped the unions can try to make a few bucks by unionizing the workforce.  Could this be the generation of $60,000, $70,000,.. $80,000, $115,000 top paid sandwich artists?

 

 

 

What does Obama have to do with this? He went to and graduated Harvard Law School, we wasn't handed a high paying job driving a bus or punching tickets...

So we "older generation" people should have refused higher salaries so the money could go to others that aren't so lucky,like the illegal aliens that are getting more than the average poor American? It's called liberalism-Obama's ideology. By the way-I left NICE because of the way it was being run, in addition to just being tired of driving buses for 40 years. As far as how much is too much for a bus driver, if you were one,instead of someone who just transports empty buses,you would know.

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So we "older generation" people should have refused higher salaries so the money could go to others that aren't so lucky,

 

I've told you before I don't blame you for doing what you did and would probably do it myself if I were in the position.  However, I don't think you grasp that my comments were generational not based on you personally.  But yea, the majority of the problems my generation has to dig out from have been caused by your generation.

 

It's not a matter of your generation refusing higher paying jobs or not, but rather your generation creating these high paying unskilled with a pension that pay more than most private sector jobs with not only no way to pay for it but not caring who will have to pay for it...  Do you understand the difference?

 

So we "older generation" people should have refused higher salaries so the money could go to others that aren't so lucky,like the illegal aliens that are getting more than the average poor American?

 

Oh god, were did illegal immigrants come into this?  Not that I care but in your world tax dollars are better spent on illegals than over paid (MTA) gigs?  

 

 

By the way-I left NICE because of the way it was being run, in addition to just being tired of driving buses for 40 years. 

 

I don't know if you simply retried but the"you not liking things" sand your general contempt for anything NICE/Veolia related seems to shed light on a whole pissing match that didn't end too well for you.  It doesn't really matter...

 

After you left did you look for any other CDL B driving jobs?  The reason I ask is because the industry is flooded with candidates.  If someone is unemployed or underemplyed they can get free CDL training...  This illegal immigrant mumbo jumbo has some validity to it, many people living in one house or receiving a housing subsidy can and will work for places likes Rides Unlimited who starts drivers at $10 an hours (yes ten dollars an hour that wasn't a typo).

 

 

 

 As far as how much is too much for a bus driver, if you were one,instead of someone who just transports empty buses,you would know.

 

If I were one, instead of just a transporter!  Ouch, did that make you feel better?

 

I think I've said this before but what the heck, I've got time.  I drove a school bus for a few years in Nassau County, Atlantic Express was paying me a lot more than the (MTA) would.  For the record I was offered a job driving a "real bus" (as you refer to it) multiple times for LIB, I had the initial interview with Paco or Pedro, whatever the HR guy's name was.  He told me he'd call me when the next class in the Bronx which he did as well as just about every other class that opened up in the in the Bronx for the next year or two until it was announced Veolia was taking over.  The problem was every time slots opened up was less than 2 weeks and I refused to leave a job with less than 2 weeks notice it wasn't his fault he explained to me that he would get very short notice most of the time (they have x seats left in the Bronx, you may call X people).  The fact that this was the way (MTA) hired, with such short notice told a story and explained the class of some people who worked for LIB (and I certainly don't mean every body) were people who were unemployed (and wouldn't or couldn't be employed by someone else instead of sitting at home) or were willing to burn they're employer and not give them 2 weeks notice.

 

During the time I interviewed with (MTA) LIB I really began hating driving a bus, I thought the (MTA) was an answer...  I hated mornings and screaming kids, along with the traffic and the fact it was a mind numbing boring job.  I realized I did not want to drive a bus anymore but I thought maybe I could work for LIB because I would actually like working nights and weekends better than early morning & split shifts (be to the yard ready to pull out no later than 6am, get to the yard at like 4pm and park like 15-30 minutes after whether I'd be on line for fuel or online in the yard waiting to park. This took up most of your day and you were only paid for 32 hours, so if you wanted 40 hours you'd have to do at least 2 trips either on the mid day break, at night or on Saturday.  During heavy sports months you'd probably be working Saturday's anyway, yay money but it was tiring with one day to relax during the week.

 

Like I said I was growing really tired of driving a school bus, the early mornings, and split shift.  Really, I didn't want to become one of these old bus drivers who looked like they hated everything in life. I thought I could squeeze at least a few mores out of this career and thought (MTA) LIB was the answer.  That was until the (MTA) called, during the interview they are honest about the LABO position .  It is funny the position stands for Limited Availability Bus Operator, this has nothing to do with your availability in fact you must have open availability for this part time job.

 

They did a great job of telling what the job is, a lot of jobs don't do that.  This is a position until you "earn" enough seniority to bid on a route, as with most driving jobs seniority and moving up the ladder is just being there longer than anyone else!  The position is basically you can earn up to 32 hours a week (some are lucky enough to get 40 hours but they let you knew very few are lucky enough to get that) and your job is pretty drive much drive Hounds route for his two days off, then drive LI Operators route for his two days off.  What did you call it?  Oh yea, regular day off,it should have been called your regular day to do LIRR work and make time and a half driving shuttles.  lol

 

Now it was explained to me that you'd be one of the lucky LABO's if you got to drive routes during peoples day off, you'd probably be used to provide extra buses on the N4 & N6 for 20 hours a week (four hours a day).  If that wouldn't suck enough you could work as little as 20 hours a week on doing a split shift.  A swing as you people refer to it, come in for the AM rush to help provide coverage on something like the N4 or N6 go home, come back for the PM rush to help provide coverage.  I was told this is the most common shift for a LABO,,,

 

I already hated split shifts and LIB payed a lot less than what I was making driving a school bus...  Why would I work for them?  The summer was coming in a couple of months, 2 full paid months off at $405 a week (top allowed) which is slightly less for sleeping in and going to the beach than being a LABO driver?  So why would I again?  Make less money a week, give up 2 months paid vacation a year, to do a job I already hate?  Not to mention the fact they'd always call with less than 2 weeks notice.  But I would be a real bus driver as far as people like Hound are concerned.  For me i don't care about the equipment, I care about the pay check... Which is how I got into transporting.

 

I know, I know top pay, a pension, you gotta pay your dues.  I already wasn't looking for a career, just a few more good years, which wouldn't have been that good at LIB. I would've been excited to see a pension and would have stayed for that.  The thing is I saw the writing on the wall and saw something like Veolia happening before it happened.  I saw how much money was being wasted, the 2010 pissing contest between (MTA) and Nassau.  I knew systems around the Country were being privatized and thought it wouldn't be long before Nassau went private.  I didn't expect it as soon as it happened but didn't think I'd be lucky enough to go 20-30 years to get a full pension before the system went private.

 

I have been around this country and am glad I got to do that I've got to experiences the nations smallest towns as well as getting to explore the nations biggest city's.  Being to the airport at 6am sucks but it's a lot better than pulling out of a yard on the island at 6am!   YES, the buses are empty, just me, no passengers, no dispatchers, no looking at the clock stressing because I'm a minutes behind schedule.  If I want to stop to eat I could stop at any time,any place I want, if I had to take a piss I could also stop anywhere/anytime!

 

Ah, the pay...  Not on Hound's level but $200 a day minimum isn't too shabby...

 

I've finished my bachelor's degree and have been working in a different industry since.  Although it's funny, driving for NICE is tempting because it starts at $19/hour (higher than the starting salary of your average college graduate) and I could make top pay in 6 years which based on wage increase trends would be over $70,000 a year by doing nothing in terms of climbing up the ladder.  Like I've said before, if I went the driving route I'd probably drive a truck which makes more than a NICE driver, be by myself, and probably live in a cheaper part of the country.  

 

I don't know why I'm telling you this, I guess to let you know why I laugh when you tell me I'm not a real bus driver like it's supposed to hurt.  It took me 10% of the time to realize the job sucks, then again I wasn't lucky enough to be born into a generation making bus drivers $80,000 employees with a pension, I might have stuck it out for that.  I also posted this because at lot of younger people here want to be bus drivers, nothing wrong with that.  I have had family and friends who did, who told me to do something else and I didn't listen.  

 

 

in addition to just being tired of driving buses for 40 years.

 

After 40 years of driving buses, and retiring (are you still driving for a living anywhere?) buses must be the last thing you want to think about.  So, why are you here?  Are you that scorn?

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Back to Suffolk  BRT...

 

Here's an interesting letter on the situation...

 

How much would service at 30 minute headways be on this line?

 

People turn their nose up at buses on the island but love their LIRR service...  LIRR was created as a way to shuttle people into the city and back.  The island has grown but the LIRR's intent has stayed the same.  The line is there, why not use it and connect the lines?

 

Letter: North-south LI transit exists now

Published: August 5, 2014 4:51 PM

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/letters/north-south-li-transit-exists-now-letter-1.8971248

Relative to the $78 million rapid bus plan envisioned by Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, I would argue that something like the north-south transit service he seeks already exists and is available almost free of additional taxpayer cost ["Rapid-bus plan backed," News, July 31].

The key lies in whether the Long Island Rail Road is willing to modify its New York City-based travel orientation to one that attempts to facilitate north-south travel in Nassau and Suffolk.

Between Hicksville and Babylon, two of the LIRR's busiest stations, there is a little-known stretch of rail called the Central branch. This 10 miles of non-electrified, single track provides critical flexibility for the LIRR in routing some Montauk branch trains via the Main Line. Yet virtually none of these trains has a scheduled stop at either Hicksville or Babylon. If they did, it would enable passengers to transfer from one of the LIRR's branches to another. Such transfers are available in most European rail systems.

Were the LIRR to stop all of its trains at both Hicksville and Babylon -- and perhaps even add "scoot" diesel service between these points -- the intra-county connectivity between communities and activity centers on the Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma and Babylon-Montauk branches could be accomplished. It would eliminate the lengthier, time-consuming and more expensive transfers via Jamaica. And even though it might appear to be roundabout, travel by rail connection may be a lot speedier than navigating a north-south bus link through Long Island traffic

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