Long Island Bus changing hands to Veolia in 2012
The wheels on the bus may go ‘round and round,’ but local union workers are clamoring for a detour in Nassau County’s new plans with the Long Island Bus.
At Able Ride-LI Bus Garage in Garden City Nov. 10, County Executive Edward Mangano announced a new agreement with Veolia Transportation, a private Illinois-based company, to operate the Long Island Bus.
While the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) has operated Long Island Bus for years, Mangano deemed the MTA’s conditions for contract renewal to be “unacceptable.” MTA called for layoffs, bus service cuts of 56 percent, a decrease in services for those with disabilities and an additional $26 million per year from the county.
The new design of the Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) Bus (Photo courtesy of Katie Grilli-Robles)
Starting Jan. 1, 2012, Long Island Bus service will operate as the Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) Bus. The county legislature will review the detailed contract, and approval will consist of a public hearing and a voting stage.
Mangano addressed how the changes will affect commuters and taxpayers.
“We’re switching over to a better, smarter, more efficient way to operate bus services,” said Mangano. “In the contract I’ve submitted to legislations, three things will happen. One, we’ll provide fare stability for riders. Two, we’ll restore the MTA’s 27 planned route cuts, and three, we’ll reduce the cost to taxpayers.”
The proposed contract would save $6.4 million of taxpayer dollars and stabilize Able-Ride services for the next two years.
“The difference you’ll notice is that we’ll have more reliable, more on time, and cleaner services,” said Mark Aesch, CEO of Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority, who is serving as consultant to the transition.
Though the contract outlines a business-minded transparent process, Patricia Bowden, president of Transport Workers Union Local 252, addressed major issues union employees will encounter.
“My members are losing their pensions,” said Bowden. “They’re losing their hospitalization. Who in this day and age can live without hospitalization?”
Pension cuts will reportedly reach 26 percent. Bowden said she’s attempted to voice these complaints to Mangano to no avail.
“We wrote to Ed Mangano 12 months ago asking him to please sit down with us,” said Bowden. “He’s not working with us at all, and he has never talked with us. We have not seen the contract that he has with Veolia.”
Bowden said the concern for job cuts has also prevailed and that Local 252 has decreased from 915 members to 823 members.
However, Michael Setzer, CEO of Long Island Bus at Veolia Transportation announced the hiring of 300 existing Nassau MTA bus drivers.
“It appears that every current Long Island Bus driver who wants it will be offered a job at Veolia, and I’m very pleased to report that,” said Setzer.
Veolia expects to reach a “new and creative and innovative labor agreement” with the Transport Workers Union that represents the majority of the drivers.
While Mangano assured that fares would not be increased, Ryan Lynch, senior planner of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, was not convinced, saying that the contract only provides details for one or two years of service.
“The devil is in the details,” said Lynch. “They certainly didn’t guarantee free transfers into the system. So, it’s not really an interconnecting system if you can’t get a free transfer. That’s a de facto fare increase in our book.”
Upon approval of the contract, Mangano and the county legislature will appoint a new Transit committee that will handle all matters concerning the Long Island Bus.
Though union workers are baffled as to what their situation will be, Mangano is certain about one thing:
“No matter what, bus service will ride on January 1.”
Comments
Powered by Facebook Comments