I’ve been reading a lot about Nassau County’s new bus plan which is going to effect not only those who live in Nassau county but also those who commute into Nassau for employment.
On January 1, 2012 Nassau is set to turn over the Long Island Bus, which serves 100,000 daily riders to a company named Lombard, an Illinois- based Veolia Transdev. It had been operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) for the last 40 years but Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano pulled out of the deal with the MTA.
Now an agreement was reached not to cut service or raise fares for one year.
I travel on the Queens Q46 from Glen Oaks Village and transfer to the Nassua N25 to Great Neck. I pay $29 a week on a weekly unlimited MetroCard. However, as of January 1, the Nassau bus will be a private concern and will not accept a MetroCards. I will be forced to purchase a weekly card at about another $29 from this bus company. This brings the cost to $58 a week and that is a 100 percent increase in fares to all us commuters from Queens and the MTA.
I hope Edward Mangano and Lombard comes up with a card that accepts transfers from the two counties. If they don’t, I’m calling for a boycott of Queens commuters not to buy any goods or sevices from Nassau County until a fare deal is agreed upon.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.
Glen Oaks Village
