Let us all celebrate the seventh anniversary of NICE bus which occurred this past Jan. 1. Thousands of residents ride Nassau Inter County Express Bus to jobs, schools and other destinations within Nassau County along with Queens and Suffolk counties.
Many transfer to the New York City Transit subway at Flushing, Jamaica or Far Rockaway stations.
Thousands of Queens residents travel via NICE bus to jobs, schools and other destinations in Nassau County. The viability of NICE benefits everyone. To understand the origins of how we got here, you must go back in time to the early 1970s.
Prior to NICE, bus service in Nassau County was operated under Long Island Bus and Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority.
In 1973, Nassau County purchased equipment, routes and some facilities from numerous private bus operators most of whom were experiencing serious financial difficulties. These private bus operators included Bee Line, Rockville Center Bus Corporation, Utility Lines, Stage Coach Lines, Schenck Transportation, Inc., Nassau Bus Line, Hempstead Bus Corporation, Jerusalem Avenue Bus Lines, Universal Auto Bus, Roosevelt Bus Lines, Stage Coach Lines, Hendrickson Bus Corporation and others.
Their respective fare box income was insufficient to cover current day to day operating expenses.
They lacked the funding to purchase new replacement buses, along with upgrading out of date maintenance and operating bus garages. Nassau County followed up that same year by entering into a lease and operating agreement with the MTA to continue providing local bus service.
This resulted in the creation of the Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority. Years later, MSBA was followed by Long Island Bus and on Jan. 1, 2012 Nassau Inter County Express.
Most of the same routes operated by MSBA, LI Bus and NICE today can be traced back to the various private bus operators.
It is a four-way dance between fares paid by riders along with funding provided by Nassau County, the state and the federal government in financing public bus transportation operated by NICE. They operate a fleet of 308 buses out of the Mitchell Field bus garage.
NICE also operates a fleet of 122 Able Ride paratransit vehicles out of the Stewart Avenue facility. Both facilities were constructed by federal capital grants with local matching funds provided by Nassau County and the State Department of Transportation.
It was the same funding sources for both construction of the Hempstead Multi-Modal Bus Terminal and Mineola Intermodal Bus Terminal/Commuter Parking Garage.
All four of these investments combined cost almost $100 million. In today’s dollars, it would be far higher.
NICE attempts to schedule bus replacements on a 500,000 mile or 12-year cycle, whichever comes first, is based upon federal Department of Transportation guidelines.
Since 1973, buses operated by NICE under contract to Nassau County are now on the fourth replacement cycle. Most buses operated by NICE are under 12 years old. This was not the case decades earlier when the average age of the fleet was closer to 12 years.
Over time, there have been other capital investments, including compressed natural gas fueling stations, facility modifications to accommodate CNG buses inside garages, new fare collection equipment, automatic vehicle locator equipment, real-time communications systems to notify riders for anticipated arrival of the next bus, shelters, bus stop signs and other support equipment necessary to run the system.
Just like a homeowner, what is new today requires constant maintenance, periodic upgrades and eventual replacement years later.
Capital physical assets of any bus system (including revenue vehicles along with bus facility components such as HVAC, bus washers, paint booths, engine shops, bays, pits, lifts, doors, fueling stations, lighting, security systems and many others) eventually reach the end of their useful life based upon straight-line depreciation and/or manufactures warranty. Significant changes in technology also require replacement of outdated equipment.
It has been 46 years since Nassau County took control of all bus routes from private operators. Over that time period, Nassau County, Albany and Washington have combined invested over $740 million in capital improvements and almost $1 billion in operating subsidy.
NICE services continue to be one of the best bargains around.
Larry Penner
Great Neck
(Larry Penner is a transportation historian, advocate and writer who previously worked for the United States Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration Region 2 NY Office. This included the development, review, approval and oversight for grants supporting capital projects and programs on behalf of Nassau County’s bus system from 1983-2014.)
