NICE Bus panel’s first meeting today

The Nassau committee formed to oversee the county’s newly privatized bus system will meet for the first time today.

The five-member Transit Advisory Committee will meet at 4 p.m. at the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building on Franklin Avenue in Mineola. County spokesman Brian Nevin said the committee will elect officers and also hear a report from officials with Veolia Transportation, the company that has operated the NICE Bus system since January.

“Obviously we have a lot of objectives — certainly to see that Veolia Transportation is living up to their contract and that the county is living up to theirs,” said committee member Sheldon Shrenkel, of North Valley Stream.

According to the contract, the committee is supposed to meet quarterly to review the operation and management of the NICE Bus system and, in some cases, vote on service cuts and fare increases.

NICE Bus chief executive Michael Setzer will give an “overview and update” of the system’s first three months, and review the recent service changes, Veolia spokesman Andy Kraus said.

Some transit advocates said Tuesday they were disappointed that Nassau did not do more to notify the public about the committee’s first meeting. The county posted a notice in Newsday on April 18, and also notified legislators and local colleges, Nevin said.

In a memo to committee members, Charlene Obernauer, founder of the Long Island Bus Riders Union, said the county should publish notices at least a month in advance, in English and Spanish, in various newspapers and on signs in bus stations and buses.