Lynch: Nassau bus takeover is being rushed

Ryan Lynch is senior planner and Long Island coordinator at the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a nonprofit transit advocacy group.

After months requesting a hearing on the proposed bus contract between Nassau County and Veolia Transportation, the Nassau County Legislature will finally hold one on Monday to decide whether to approve the Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) contract. This is less than a month before Veolia is expected to take over operations on Jan. 1. After all this time without answers, the legislature is now considering voting on the contract the same day as the hearing, because of time constraints in the run-up to the New Year.

Instead, the legislature should postpone the vote and ask the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to operate into next year, allowing time for legislators to strengthen the proposed contract and better protect bus riders, businesses, workers and taxpayers in Nassau County. MTA board member Mitchell Pally told the Long Island Business News, "While it is not our intent to run the bus system, we're prepared to do so if the county called on us."

Extra time is necessary because right now this contract is simply just a NICE deal for Veolia. Too many unanswered questions remain before legislators can sign off on this deal.

One of the most significant concerns is about who has ultimate authority to set service levels and fares. According to contracts Veolia has with the City of Phoenix and the Central Midland Transit Authority in Columbia, S.C., transit policy decisions are made by the municipality or government agencies. In the contract between Nassau County and Veolia, the language indicates that "Veolia shall have the authority to adjust headways" -- the amount of service and schedule -- "and time points at its discretion." It can cut bus service by 25 percent or less without oversight.

A five-member transit advisory committee -- with three members appointed by the county executive and one each by the majority and minority leaders in the county legislature -- must ultimately sign off on any future demands by the operator for fare increases, service cuts of 25 percent or more, or increased taxpayer subsidies. But Veolia can terminate the contract if those demands are not met, leaving bus riders in the lurch.

In addition, neither bus riders, bus employees nor the largest governmental contributor -- New York State, which provides $53 million a year to Nassau's bus system -- have a seat on the advisory committee, leaving riders and workers and state elected officials who finance the system without a formal voice in the oversight process. Why are these stakeholders being left out?

Fare levels are also unclear in this contract. It's true that Nassau County has said fares would remain stable in 2012, but no indication of what will come in 2013 or beyond is available. Nor have county officials assured that fares for Able-Ride service will remain the same in 2012. In fact, no guarantee of fare stability of any kind is in the contract, nor is a guarantee in place for retaining free transfers between Nassau County's bus system and New York City transit. What protections are in place to shield riders from fare hikes and to keep their free transfers?

Federal law ensures that the wage and benefit standards the unionized workforce has achieved cannot be undermined if the operator of the system changes hands. According to this contract, the county will be responsible for any shortfall in wage, benefit and pension costs if they are not assumed by the new private operator. According to the 2010 MTA numbers, this obligation could cost up to $89.4 million. What will legislators do to ensure that taxpayers are protected from this obligation?

All of these questions -- and many more -- must be answered if the Nassau County Legislature is going to stand up for bus riders and Nassau taxpayers. With the extra time that the MTA is willing to provide, legislators must not be a rubber stamp.