MTA Long Island Bus MTA Long Island Bus #1808 waits at a light in Hicksville, operating westbound on the N78 route. Slogan Going Your Way Parent Founded 1973 Headquarters 700 Commercial Avenue Garden City, NY 11530-6410 Locale Nassau County, New York Service area Most of Nassau County, except for northeastern part Service type Local bus Routes 48 Hubs 5 major bus hubs, 48 LIRR stations, and 5 New York City Subway stations[1] Fleet 325 fixed-route, 94 Able Ride[2] (2009 figures) Daily ridership 104,036 (weekday, 2009)[2] Fuel type CNG (fixed-route) Diesel (Able-Ride) Web site Long Island Bus

MTA Long Island Bus is the name used by MTA Regional Bus for its bus network serving primarily Nassau County. It also serves parts of western Suffolk County as well as parts of Queens. Long Island Bus is the trading name of Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority, a name which has not been used publicly since 1995, and which is now a unit of Regional Bus as noted above. As of 1 January 2012, the system will be renamed "NICE" (Nassau Inter-County Express), and will operated by Veolia Transportation in a public-private partnership due to Nassau County and the MTA being unable to reach a subsidy agreement (see below).[3]

[edit] History

What is today Long Island Bus began service in 1973 under the name Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority by the combination of 11 private operators:

• Bee-Line, Inc. (N1-N6) and subsidiaries:
  • Rockville Centre Bus (N14-N16), and the now-discontinued N17
  • Utility Lines (N19; extended to Patchogue along current S40 (Suffolk Transit) route)
  • Stage Coach Lines (N71, 73-74, and earlier N70): NOTE: The N70 under Stage Coach was a loop route from Hempstead to Levittown, Bellmore, Wantagh, and back to Hempstead.
  • Mid-Island Transit (N78-N81): This operator was acquired by Stage Coach, which would be acquired by Bee-Line. Also operated by this operator was a route from today's Broadway Mall to Oyster Bay.
• Schenck Transportation (N20-N27) and previously acquired:
  • Nassau Bus Line (N31-N33)
  • Universal Auto Bus (N57 and N58)
• Jerusalem Avenue Bus Line (N51, N54/55) and a now-discontinued Massapequa Park circulator (old N53)
• Hempstead Bus Corporation (N35, N36, N37, N40/41, N45, N47-N49)
• Roosevelt Bus Line (N62)
• Branch Bus Corporation (N69; transferred to Long Beach in 1984)
• Hendrickson Bus Corporation (N67, discontinued January 1975)

In the 1980s, the N28 (now discontinued), N46, N50, and N70 (as an N72 branch) were instituted as new routes, with the N20 extended to Hicksville. The 1990s saw the creation of a shuttle around Roosevelt Field (N93, now discontinued), two shuttles designed to take customers from train stations to work sites (the N94 and N95, both discontinued), and a service connecting Nassau County to JFK Airport (the N91, now discontinued), with the 2000s seeing a Merrick shuttle (now discontinued) and the N8 and N43 routes being created.

In 2007, Long Island Bus averaged over 109,000 weekday riders, many of which include customers connecting to other MTA services in the region. Long Island Bus today is operated as a division of MTA Regional Bus.[4]

[edit] Privatization and the future

In 2010, the future of MTA Long Island Bus became uncertain, as the MTA threatened drastic cuts due to Nassau County's disproportionately small contributions to the operation. By March 2011, the MTA proposed a set of major service reductions which will eliminate over half of the routes, with the greatest impact on southeastern Nassau County, eliminating all routes operating south of Hempstead Turnpike and east of the Meadowbrook State Parkway (except for the N71), citing Nassau's refusal to pay its contracted amount.[5] After reviewing the service cut plans, County Executive Ed Mangano considered severing ties with the MTA and privatizing the Long Island Bus system.[6]. A temporary reprieve, via additional state funding, would sustain service through the end of 2011.[7] However, on April 27, 2011, the MTA voted to cease all bus service in Nassau County after the end of 2011, at which point the system will be operated by Veolia Transportation. [8][9] On 10 November, 2011, Veolia and Mangano announced that the service was going to be renamed "NICE", an acronym for "Nassau Inter-County Express", when Veolia takes over the system. All buses, including Able-Ride vehicles, will be painted into a new paint scheme to reflect the change.[3]

The current fare is US$2.25 (US$1.10 for seniors and disabled customers). Students with ID receive a discount of 25¢ from the base fare. Dollar bills are not accepted on any Long Island Bus fixed-route buses. Transfers are available upon request with coins, and are included automatically with MetroCard. The transfers are valid for 2 hours and can be used on 2 connecting Long Island Bus routes. They are also valid on Suffolk Transit, City of Long Beach bus, or HART with the following restrictions:

• Transfers to non-MTA buses are with coins only.
• Transfers to the New York City Subway, or New York City Bus or MTA Bus express service, are available with MetroCard only (express buses require additional fare).
• Transfers from non-MTA services require payment of a "step-up" fare, which is the difference between the base fares of the systems.

The Able-Ride paratransit fare is US$3.75, payable in Able-Ride tickets or exact fare.[10]

[edit] Bus depots

MTA Long Island Bus operates from three garages in Nassau County, New York as follows:

[edit] Rockville Centre Depot

The Rockville Centre Bus Depot is located on 50 Banks Avenue in Rockville Centre.[11] This garage, originally the home of Bee Line, Inc., houses the following routes: N1, N2, N4, N8, N14, N15, N19, N25, N31, N32, N33, N35 (some service), N36, N40 (some service), N41 (some service), N62, and N88 Jones Beach(summer service only).

[edit] Mitchel Field Depot

The Mitchel Field Depot (marked Senator Norman J. Levy Transit Facility on older buses and on the building itself, pictured in the background at the top of this page) is located on 700 Commercial Avenue in Garden City, and is the headquarters and central garage for Long Island Bus. The garage is named after the Mitchel Air Force Base that operated there from 1918 until 1961. All routes not operated from the Rockville Centre garage are dispatched from this garage.[11]

[edit] Stewart Avenue Depot (Able-Ride)

The Stewart Avenue Depot is located on 947 Stewart Avenue in Garden City. All Able-Ride Nassau County shared-ride ADA paratransit service is dispatched from this garage.[12]

[edit] Bus stop signage

Long Island Bus stops are signed as follows.

[edit] Current Fleet

Long Island Bus runs Orion CNG buses in regular route service. Older buses are of the Orion V model (as shown to the left) with an orange-and-blue stripe, these buses are titled to Nassau County. The newest order of buses are of Orion VII Next Generation model, with only a blue stripe on the sides.

[edit] Routes

Long Island Bus runs fixed-route service on 48 routes, servicing the towns of Hempstead, North Hempstead, and the southern part of Oyster Bay, along with parts of the cities of Long Beach and Glen Cove. Routes are designated "N" for Nassau County, with service provided daily (although not all routes operate 7 days a week), and 24-hour service provided on the N4 Merrick Road and N6 Hempstead Turnpike routes.

Long Island Bus routes operating to Jamaica and Flushing, Queens operate closed-door service in Queens (that is, local service is not provided solely for travel within Queens; appropriate NYC Transit or MTA Bus services must be used instead). In addition, the N15 and N33 operate closed-door within the City of Long Beach, where local service is provided by Long Beach Bus. The exception is the N24, where one side of Jericho Turnpike/Jamaica Avenue is in New York City, but the other side of the street is in the Town of Hempstead. Eastbound drop-off begins at 225 Street, where state maintenance of Jamaica Avenue begins, and westbound pickups occur as far west as 239 Street.

[edit] References

[edit] External links