Nassau County to receive $42 million in federal funding to upgrade NICE bus system

Nassau County will receive $42 million in federal funding to upgrade the county's bus system, including with low-emission vehicles, officials announced.

The money will be used to bolster the Nassau Inter-County Express, or NICE, which primarily serves Nassau. The funds come from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which set aside more than $1 trillion for infrastructure projects nationwide.

Part of the $42 million grant will fund the replacement of 28 buses that are "at the end of their useful lives" with low-emission buses, according to a Thursday news release from Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre). Another piece of the funding will be used to "rehabilitate" the bus facility in Rockville Centre.

"Improving transportation options and reliability will directly benefit families, residents and businesses across Long Island’s South Shore," Gillen said in her statement.

The 28 older buses that are set to be replaced vary in condition, according to a spokesman from Rep. Gillen's office who spoke to Newsday on Friday.

The spokesman said the goal was for NICE to have the new buses by 2028.

In a Thursday statement, County Executive Bruce Blakeman said the buses would "provide quality public transportation for the residents of Nassau County. In addition this will provide construction jobs for our building trades."

Officials could not immediately tell Newsday how much money would go to either portion of the project, what the bus facility rehabilitation would entail, when the overhaul would be completed or when the new buses would be put on the road. The condition of the 28 older buses being replaced also wasn't clear.

NICE spokesman Mark Smith wrote in an email on Thursday that the agency "just learned of the grant award late yesterday" and therefore, "there is still a lot of coordination and details to be worked out with Nassau County." He referred Newsday to county officials.

Gillen's Thursday news release said some of the $42 million would go to Rockville Centre. However, a spokeswoman for Rockville Centre said on Friday the village had not been notified of any federal funds coming to it.

By Sam Kmack

sam.kmack@newsday.com

Sam Kmack covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California and previously worked as a city watchdog reporter in the Phoenix metro area, as well as an investigative journalist at the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.