NICE Bus Board Votes To Cut Service

The Nassau County Bus Transit Service Committee voted Thursday to eliminate 10 routes on the NICE Bus due to a large budget shortfall caused by the county.

The bus service was faced with a large deficit after Nassau County provided $7 million less in funding for 2017 than it did in 2016. This, NICE Bus said, prompted the plan to cut 10 routes and reduce service on four more. The cuts will go into effect in April.

Among the routes to be eliminated would be the Freeport, Hicksville-Wantagh and Rockville Centre shuttles. The three shuttle routes were created last year after an outcry from residents and lawmakers when NICE proposed cutting those low-ridership routes to save money.

In addition, NICE is also eliminating:

• N19 Freeport-Sunrise Mall
• N36 Lynbrook-Freeport
• N45 Bellmore-Roosevelt Field
• N47 Hempstead-Bellmore
• N51 Roosevelt Field-Merrick
• N57 Great Neck Loop
• N78/78 Hicksville-Plainview

Major reductions would be made to the Elmont Flexi, the N27 Roslyn-Glen Cove, the N70/71/72 Hempstead-Babylon and the N80/81 Hicksville-Sunrise Mall. NICE's Able Ride service, which provides transportation for disabled riders, will remain unchanged.

The only way to save the routes, officials say, is if the county or the state comes up with the money to help. NICE says it does not receive a fair share of state funding for transportation services. Of the $5 billion the state is budgeting for transit assistance, $4.5 billion goes to the MTA while the rest is divvied up among other transit authorities throughout the state.

"Without a dedicated funding stream for Long Island's transit system, continuality of operations and needed expansions will again be in question, jeopardizing the livelihood of some of Long Island's most vulnerable -- especially as the only state funding for Nassau and Suffolk are at risk of being reduced due to cuts to the system, perpetuating a downward spiral," NICE officials wrote in a release.

Photo: Patch