The new look for the Nassau Inter-County Express, or NICE, a public-private partnership that will take over Long Island Bus on New Years Day.
Long Island Bus will make its final trips Saturday before turning into the Nassau Inter-County Express, or NICE, on Sunday morning.
The move caps a year-long effort to have a private company, Illinois-based Veolia Transportation, take over operations of Nassau County’s bus system, which has been run by the MTA for nearly four decades. The county legislature unanimously approved the contract two weeks ago.
“It is vital that there be a smooth transition between the Nassau County transit system and the MTA,” County Executive Ed Mangano said in a statement this week. Veolia is also managing the county’s paratransit system.
The administration said an agreement has been reached to allow NICE bus riders to continue using the MTA’s MetroCard for fares and transfers between MTA buses and New York City subways.
“For all the Nassau County residents heading into the city to work, there’s a nearly equal number of city residents heading to Nassau County – this is an example of two transit systems collaborating to serve shared customers,” NICE CEO Mike Setzer said in a statement.
More information about NICE Bus can be found at their website.
Meanwhile, Veolia said in a statement it reached a tentative multi-year contract agreement early Friday with about 800 members of the Transportation Workers Union Local 252 that represents Long Island Bus drivers, mechanics and other workers.
The union membership has yet to vote on the new contract, the terms of which were not disclosed. A union representative said the vote will be scheduled for sometime in January.
“Buses will roll on schedule on January 1,” Patricia Bowden, president of the union, said in a statement.
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