Earlier this week, Nassau County Legislator Francis Becker called on Veolia to allow the Transit Advisory Committee to review the service changes to take place on April 8th. He did so the day after the Long Island Bus Riders' Union held a press conference
and spoke at the legislature on the severity of the cuts and the necessity to have a transparent public process.
The
following article appeared in Newsday earlier
this week.
Lawmaker seeks hearing on NICE Bus cuts
A Nassau County
legislator has asked NICE Bus to hold a
hearing on its planned service cuts, which
he says are coming a lot sooner than he
expected.
Legis. Francis Becker Jr. (R-Lynbrook)
sent a letter Wednesday to officials with
Veolia Transportation -- the operator of
NICE Bus -- urging them to hold a hearing
before Nassau's
newly created Transit Advisory Committee to
review proposed service changes set to take
effect April 8.
The changes include eliminating midday and
weekend service on some low ridership lines.
Veolia officials have said the cuts are
necessary to close a $7.3-million budget
gap. They also say that more riders
will benefit from
improved service on some lines.
Becker's letter comes after transit
advocates raised concerns about Veolia's
plan at a Nassau legislative meeting on
Monday. The members of the Long
Island Bus Riders Union said
the cuts are more severe than Veolia is
letting on, and would reduce service on some
lines by more than 20 percent.
In his letter, Becker said a hearing would
"allow the public and elected officials such
as myself, to better understand the changes
and assess their impact on our district and
our riders."
"While we all expected changes to the routes
to occur at some point, they have come more
quickly and somewhat more dramatically than
many of us on the legislature . . . expected
they would," he wrote.
Veolia took over operation of Nassau's bus
system, previously known as Long
Island Bus, from theMetropolitan
Transportation Authority on
Jan. 1. County Executive Edward Mangano said
privatizing the system would save millions
and increase accountability.
In a statement, NICE Bus chief executive
Michael Setzer said he already has reached
out to the advisory committee's attorney to
schedule a presentation about the service
changes. He noted that Veolia has presented
them to the public through two community
meetings last month and materials on its
website.
"NICE looks forward to the opportunity to
demonstrate that the number of riders who
will benefitfrom
increased service or will experience little
change far outnumbers riders who will be
inconvenienced by reduced service," Setzer
said.
Riders union member Ryan Lynch, of
the Tri-State
Transportation Campaign, called
Becker a "champion for transparency" for
writing the letter.