NICE to cut RVC bus routes

Nassau County approved the elimination of 10 Nassau Inter-County Express bus routes last week, including two of the three lines through Rockville Centre.

The plan, which was approved unanimously by the Nassau County Bus Transit Committee at a hearing on Nov. 19, would eliminate NICE’s N14 route, known as the Rockville Centre Loop, and the N17, which runs from the village train station north on Peninsula Boulevard to Mercy Hospital, and then on to the Hempstead Transit Center. The only route remaining to Rockville Centre bus riders will be the N16, which runs north from the train station on Hempstead Avenue, stopping at Molloy College and continuing to the transit center and the Nassau Hub, which encompasses the Coliseum, Nassau Community College and Roosevelt Field Mall.

According to NICE, the cuts will go into effect on Jan. 17.

“I am extremely disappointed in the decision by NICE to eliminate routes within our village that people depend on to get to school, work and health care,” said Mayor Francis X. Murray. “This will be a real hardship for a number of people that depend on bus service and can least afford alternative modes of transportation. Now in the hands of a private company, NICE needs to take into consideration the impact of this decision and consider alternative ways to mitigate the hardship it’s causing.”

NICE stated in a release that it is eliminating the routes because they have very low ridership. In fact, the Rockville Centre Loop is the least-efficient route the company runs, it said, carrying just five passengers per trip.

“NICE has based its service adjustment recommendations on ridership data and the amount of subsidy per ride,” the company said in the release. “Approximately 1 percent of NICE’s daily ridership would be affected by service adjustments under the current proposal. In some cases, there may be some alternative bus routes for passengers.”

The subsidy is highest on the Rockville Centre Loop. According to NICE, the route requires a subsidy of $5.52 per ride, in addition to the fare. In contrast, the busiest route, the N6, which runs from Hempstead to Jamaica, carries 46 riders per trip and requires a subsidy of just 29 cents.