[Update: Newsday reports that Nassau County has received three bids to privately operate LI Bus. The details of the bids are currently unclear.]
Nearly four days after the extended deadline for bids to privately operate LI Bus has passed, Nassau County still hasn’t released the number of bids received-even after repeated requests from Tri-State.
In TSTC’s most recent attempt to receive information, a spokesman for County Executive Mangano, Brian Nevin, indicated that the County will not be “commenting on the LI Bus proposals right now other than to state that we are currently reviewing the proposals,” which he described as “multiple.” Nassau asked companies to submit bids by October 18, then extended the deadline to November 1.
One private operator, Veolia Transportation, is already advertising for potential positions in Nassau County. That may seem to bode well for the County, but in the areas where Veolia operates bus systems, their operation is coupled with heavy local subsidies. For example, in Tucson, Ariz., the local municipality contributes over $36 million to its Sun Tran system, even though ridership is almost half as much as on LI Bus and Sun Tran operates fewer routes and has a smaller fleet.
Nassau County, on the other hand, has told bidders it will contribute nothing to a privatized service and wants a cut of fare revenues.
The county has historically gotten a generous deal on Long Island Bus. This year it contributed just $9.1 million towards a system with an operating budget of approximately $133 million a year, while the MTA kicked in $26 million, a perk no other county system in the metropolitan region enjoys. Nassau’s budget contains no increase in transit funding in the event a private operator can’t be found, and the MTA now wants to cut its contribution. Instead of putting the system at risk, the two need to come to a negotiated settlement that puts bus riders first.
I’ll be really surprised if they get any takers at all.
For background, here’s George K’s analysis of LI Bus farebox data. Apparently the N40/N41 is the only route that makes an operating surplus.
The companies are First Transit, Veolia, and MV Transportation.
Hi. I’m George K, but I’m using the username that I use on Second Avenue Sagas.
Which routes a private company would be willing to take over depends on several factors:
Fares being charged on the service
Transfer policies
What requirements have to be met (in terms of frequency)
I could easily picture the N40/N41 and N6 going to a private operator. Possibly most of the services with a farebox recovery ratio in the 50%-75% ratio would be able to turn a profit under current conditions (free transfers between LI Bus routes with a $2.25 fare) if the operator can keep costs down. If a person transfers between an LI Bus route and a route in NYC, the portion that the private company gets to keep would have to be sufficient.
Every route with a farebox recovery ratio of 50% or less would be left on its own
By the way, would Nassau County still subsidize some routes or would it remove its subsidies altogether? Some routes, like the N51, N73/N74, and N81 have very low farebox recovey ratios.
[…] Nassau County Receives Three Bids to Privately Run LI Bus, But Can It Work Without Subsidies? (MTR) […]
[…] Nassau County Receives Three Bids to Privately Run LI Bus, But Can It Work Without Subsidies? (MTR) […]
The County Executive either doesn’t know or is ignoring the fact that the private bus companies in Nassau County (Hempstead, Schenck, others) all went bust in the 1970s and Nassau County took them over as an essential public service. MTA Long Island Bus serves, for the most part, people who have no choice but to take the bus, people who are unlikely to vote for Mangano. Find a way to get Nassau County residents out of their cars and onto buses and trains, and LIB might make money. Take a good, hard look at the Nassau County bus map and don’t just slash service but look at where buses go and the places they serve. Perhaps much of the bus map needs to be re-drawn.
Michael Cairl wrote “The County Executive either doesn’t know or is ignoring the fact that the private bus companies in Nassau County (Hempstead, Schenck, others) all went bust in the 1970s and Nassau County took them over as an essential public service.”
A successful politician doesn’t let the facts get in the way of telling people what they want to hear.
WHATTTTT…The County is delusional!