Bus committee approves NICE cuts

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Thousands of commuters will soon have to find alternative means to get to their destinations after the Nassau County Bus Transit Committee on Feb. 16 approved a plan by Nassau Inter-County Express to cut 10 bus routes, including one in Rockville Centre, and reduce service to four more.

The committee, in a 5 to 2 vote, granted NICE’s request to eliminate such lines as DeMott Avenue/Long Beach Road in Rockville Centre, shuttles in Freeport and Hicksville-Wantagh, the N19 Freeport bus to Sunrise Mall, the N36 that runs from Lynbrook to Freeport, the N45 from Bellmore to Roosevelt Field, the N47 from Hempstead to Bellmore and the N51 that connects Roosevelt Field to Merrick.

The Elmont Shuttle was one of four that will have reduced service.

The changes will take effect on April 9 and affect 5,400 riders, according to NICE officials. The cuts represent about 12.75 percent of its total service.

The committee held two public hearings at its Garden City headquarters on Feb. 16, which was each attended by dozens of county citizens and representatives.

During his presentation to the committee, NICE CEO Michael Setzer cited a lack of county funding and a decline in passenger revenue as the biggest reasons behind the cuts.

According to his figures, the county gave NICE just over $6.7 million in discretionary money last year, but will not dispense any new monies in 2017. Nassau County only provided the minimum local match of just over $2.5 million that is required for the agency to receive the New York State Operating Assistance (STOA) of just under $67 million. He also projected that passenger revenue would drop by just over $2.1 million this year.

Because of that, NICE’s overall budget this year is about $8.9 million less than that of 2016.

“We should be and could be and would be putting more service on the street to serve our customers if we could,” Setzer said. “But we’re stuck with the revenues available to the county.”

Setzer also outlined Nassau County’s discretionary fund history over the past 12 years, saying it received $41 million from 2006 to 2010 and only $15 million since 2011.

“This is the worst possible way to run a business,” he said. “You can’t produce predictable, dependable service with this funding pattern. Some other funding method must be found in the future.”

Setzer added that NICE was able to find $5 million in non-service costs, including a tax rebate program for using compressed natural gas ($2.2 million), closing the Rockville Centre depot on Banks Avenue ($1.5 million) and other miscellaneous savings ($1.3 million).

After his presentation, residents voiced their concerns about how they would get to work or much-needed doctor’s appointments if the lines were cut. Freeport resident Tanya Walker said she often uses the N19 bus to get to places.

“That’s the bus that I use to go to doctor’s appointments [and] I use that bus for recreational use like going to Westfield Mall,” she said during the afternoon session. “I’ve seen people ride that bus going to work and I can’t see that bus being eliminated. Don’t eliminate the 19. People really need that bus.”

Others said the need the buses because of their disabilities, like Army veteran Ted Pruett of Merrick.

“I live just down the block from the bus stop, Babylon Turnpike and Merrick Road,” he said. “It’s a two to three-mile walk to the Merrick train station or approximately a four-mile walk to the Freeport train station. I have arthritis. I have a partially herniated disc in my back. When it stopped hurting, I can walk a couple of miles, but when it is hurting, that walk would be impossible.”

This marked the second time in three months that NICE presented a plan to cut buses. In early December, the agency proposed canceling nine bus routes, but the plan was rejected after the committee split its vote during a meeting on Dec. 8.

Near the end of the afternoon session, Setzer outlined what would happen if the committee rejected NICE’s latest proposal. The first alternative would be to cut 20 bus routes instead of 10. After that, NICE would eliminate 24 percent of most routes. The last plan would to operate normally and let the funds run out before shutting down until 2018.

“Unfortunately, we can’t dig a deeper hole,” said transit committee chairman Sheldon Shrenkel during the evening vote. “It would just get catastrophic.”