
                                                                 1

 1

 2                NASSAU COUNTY BUS TRANSIT COMMITTEE

 3                       September 19, 2024

 4                           6:30 p.m.

 5

 6

 7        PUBLIC MEETING

 8

 9        A P P E A R A N C E S:

10

11

12        DAWN FALCO, Chairperson

13        JEAN DUROSEAU, Committee Member

14        JACK KHZOUZ, NICE CEO

15

16

17

18        DEBRA SMITH, Court Reporter

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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 2                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  It is 6:30, so

 3             we're going to begin.  My name is Dawn

 4             Falco.  Thank you all for coming this

 5             evening.  I am the chairperson for the

 6             Nassau County Transit Committee, and

 7             with me is Mr. Jean Duroseau, committee

 8             member, and we're going to call this

 9             meeting to order.

10                  I am filling the shoes of the

11             former chairperson tonight, Mr. Sheldon

12             Shrenkel, so bear with me; I have big

13             shoes to fill.

14                  That being said, I just want to

15             confirm with Mr. Duroseau that you

16             received a copy of the agenda for this

17             evening's meeting?

18                  MEMBER DUROSEAU:  Yes.

19                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  That being

20             said, I would like to introduce at this

21             time Mr. Jack Khzouz, the NICE bus CEO,

22             who will be giving us a presentation on

23             quarterly review this evening.

24                  MR. KHZOUZ:  Thank you, Ms. Falco

25             and thank you, Mr. Duroseau, for your

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 2             services.  You've been serving the

 3             committee for many years, and we very

 4             much appreciate your leadership and

 5             guidance in ensuring we stay on path.

 6                  On behalf of the thousand

 7             employees that we have here at NICE Bus

 8             and the county, I've got a short

 9             presentation.  This is going to be a

10             somewhat abbreviated meeting.  We don't

11             really have any business to conduct at

12             this meeting other than to give an

13             update on what's going on.

14                  We just began our fall schedule,

15             our September schedule, which is our

16             busiest time of year for passenger

17             carries.

18                  Currently, we are providing about

19             74,000 trips a day, 40,000 on Saturday

20             and about 25,000 on Sunday.  It's quite

21             a huge jump from August, about an

22             eight percent jump from August.

23                  We are carrying about the same

24             level of passengers we carried

25             pre-Covid, so we're almost at a hundred

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 2             percent of pre-Covid levels.  On the

 3             Paratransit side, we are well surpassed

 4             our pre-Covid levels and are growing

 5             ridership quite a bit.

 6                  So with that, I'll just start

 7             presentation.  Again, it's fairly

 8             brief.  We're going to cover some Rosa

 9             Parks HTC upgrades.

10                  We've been going through a

11             multi-year multi-million-dollar upgrade

12             of the center, so we're going to talk

13             about updates there.  We'll talk about

14             the quarterly score card and then just

15             give some service updates and some

16             capital improvement projects update

17             too.

18                  First and foremost, project

19             updates.  Rosa Park Transit Center.

20             The transit center sees about 25,000

21             people coming through there every day,

22             so it's an extremely busy hub.  It is

23             the busiest suburban hub in the U.S.

24             and certainly far busier than any other

25             hub in New York outside of New York

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 2             City.

 3                  A few years ago, we started

 4             upgrading the center with a support of

 5             grants through the federal government

 6             and some state grants also and through

 7             the county helping us get it done.

 8                  We've completed things like rust

 9             mitigation, new paint, new poured

10             concrete, various other signing and

11             digital signing upgrades, and now we're

12             kind of working on all of the surfaces.

13                  So, we're coming up on the last

14             part of this multi-year project.  It's

15             a very complex project because it

16             involves not affecting traffic coming

17             in and out of there and trying to

18             minimize and mitigate any inconvenience

19             to our passengers.

20                  That being said, Phase 1 is now

21             complete and is open to the public.

22             New terrazzo floors were poured in

23             Phase 1.  New wall surfaces, ADA doors,

24             air curtains were installed and the

25             MetroCard machines were reinstalled,

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 2             and this weekend they are going to be

 3             moved once again so we can do Phase 2.

 4                  So, Phase 2 starts, which is

 5             happening right now.  I labeled them

 6             Jackson Street and Columbia.  The

 7             center really, we've taken it and cut

 8             it in half and worked on one half at a

 9             time because these are surfaces, they

10             affect ridership flow throughout the

11             center, so we have to be very cognizant

12             of how we affect ridership.

13                  Phase 2 on the Columbia side, the

14             storefront will be closed and revamped,

15             so it is going to be completely redone,

16             but it will be closed in the temporary

17             stages of it.

18                  There will be a trailer deployed

19             for driver's break room and rest rooms.

20             Both the rest rooms and the driver

21             break rooms are going to be closed in

22             this phase, so there will be some

23             inconvenience there.

24                  In addition to that, the MetroCard

25             machines will be moved again.  They

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 2             will be deployed again on Monday but

 3             they will be moved starting tomorrow.

 4                  And then additional security and

 5             safety measures will be deployed to

 6             make sure of the safety of everybody

 7             that goes through there.

 8                  Once we're done with this, and we

 9             think we're going to be done with it

10             before -- let's be conservative; we

11             think we'll be done early Spring, let's

12             say February we will have the center

13             completely updated.  Every surface

14             touched, rest rooms, signing and

15             everything.  So, it will be quite a

16             different center than it was five years

17             ago, ten years ago, that sort of thing.

18                  So, we're pretty proud of the

19             project.  Sharon from the county is

20             here, who has helped us manage the

21             project and has helped design the

22             project.  So, we're pretty proud of

23             the -- I think we will be proud of what

24             we end up with at the end of it, and it

25             will certainly make the rider

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 2             experience better.

 3                  Additionally, on the capital side,

 4             coming this Spring, we have 41 new

 5             Gillig buses coming.  They're

 6             compressed natural gas 40-foot buses.

 7             So that will retire all the older

 8             vehicles that are still in service.  We

 9             expect them to come, they will trickle

10             in between November and mid Spring,

11             probably March.  So, again, it will

12             update the fleet and give us one of the

13             newest fleets in the country.  We're

14             pretty happy with that.

15                  In addition to that, an additional

16             15 additional Paratransit vehicles will

17             be put into service between now and

18             then.  So, again, just upgrading the

19             fleet continuously to ensure that we

20             get the reliability and safety and the

21             service we need out of that fleet.

22                  To update everybody, we put in

23             some electric buses earlier this year.

24             They have been out in service mostly

25             servicing the hub area, mostly on the

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 2             N16, which is between, really,

 3             Rockville Centre and the college.  They

 4             have been working, knock wood, pretty

 5             well.  We're learning more and more

 6             about them as we go along.  So, we're

 7             excited to have them in service.

 8                  You will see the paint scheme a

 9             little different than what we have out

10             here; they're predominantly blue with

11             orange accents instead of orange and

12             blue accents.  But reliability has been

13             keeping up with the C and G vehicles,

14             so we're pretty happy with how things

15             work out there, and we will talk a

16             little about that in a second.

17                  So, now we really go on to service

18             updates.  We're very proud of this new

19             service.  As you know, or may know, we

20             do have, and we were one of the first

21             in the country to deploy an on-demand

22             service earlier this year in the south

23             shore.

24                  We've experimented with on-demand

25             for the last five years, and our

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 2             service and planning team really came

 3             out with a great combination about a

 4             few years ago, really came upon a

 5             formula that really works and deployed

 6             it as what we call NICE mini.

 7                  It is run out of our Paratransit

 8             division.  It is a smaller vehicle that

 9             is deployed along a corridor. Again, it

10             services the south shore between

11             Lynbrook and Freeport right now.  It's

12             a small service but it really works

13             well connecting communities.

14                  The idea here is that we connect

15             to larger routes, we connect to

16             railroad stations, we connect shopping

17             areas, human services, education,

18             hospitals, that sort of thing.  And

19             instead of a round bubble, we really

20             look at it as more of a cigar shape.

21             So, the service is much more efficient.

22                  On the south shore service of

23             mini, when you hail a vehicle, we try

24             to have a vehicle there within 15

25             minutes, if not sooner.  So, it's

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 2             really worked out very, very well.

 3             We're providing, I believe, over a

 4             hundred rides a day now just on the

 5             mini service in the south shore.

 6                  So, with that success, we have

 7             planned out a new service; this is

 8             called mini, also in Syosset.  This is

 9             a very interesting model in that we are

10             the first in the country that is

11             commingling Paratransit and fixed route

12             on one vehicle.  The platform we use

13             allows us to do that.  It's a very

14             robust platform.

15                  If you are a certified Paratransit

16             customer, you will be prioritized, and

17             ADA rules will follow for you.  We will

18             go to your home and take you from

19             address to address.

20                  If you are not a Paratransit

21             customer, you will be given a

22             coordinate within a few blocks to walk

23             to, and that will allow the bus to be

24             much more efficient.  So, it

25             understands those two parameters and

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 2             prioritizes depending on who's hailed

 3             the vehicle.

 4                  In addition to that, this is

 5             really a bridge.  It allows our

 6             residents in the Syosset area who

 7             currently do not have Able-Ride service

 8             to have Able-Ride service.  So, it

 9             expands the Able-Ride footprint.

10                  The thing it does, though, it will

11             take you -- if you want to travel -- if

12             you are an Able-Rider customer and you

13             want to travel south beyond Hicksville,

14             it will take you to Hicksville Railroad

15             Station, and that's where you transfer.

16             You will transfer to another Able-Ride

17             vehicle.  And we'll coordinate that

18             pickup as we do in the Able-Ride

19             system.  Transfers are free, just like

20             transfer to any other fixed route

21             buses.

22                  So, it's really a cool, innovative

23             way to expand service and maximize the

24             usage of our vehicles and our drivers

25             to perform different functions all in

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 2             one.

 3                  So, it's literally one of the

 4             first in the country that commingles

 5             transit this way.  We're pretty proud

 6             of it.  It shot out of the cannon right

 7             away, and, you know, within a few

 8             weeks, our ridership was up to 50 or 60

 9             requests a day.

10                  The way the algorithm works also

11             is, if you're out of the service

12             area -- the darker blue areas are the

13             service area.  If you are out of the

14             service area and you hail a vehicle, it

15             will tell you you're out of the service

16             area, we can't pick you up, but it will

17             also record that hail, and if we see a

18             lot of hails in areas outside the

19             service area, we can literally stretch

20             the service area within an hour.

21                  So, we can decide, you know what,

22             we're getting a lot of hails at this

23             library just outside, let's open up the

24             service area, and literally within the

25             next hour or two, the service area will

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 2             be opened up for those customers.

 3                  That's a way for us to understand

 4             and flex based upon what we know.  It

 5             allows us to get service out quickly

 6             and then adjust as we need to go.  That

 7             gives us some flexibility to go, you

 8             know, further than we are.

 9                  This is a great idea.  We hope

10             that it will help us perform better on

11             the Paratransit side, helps us connect

12             to fixed route better, helps us to

13             connect to Long Island Railroad better,

14             helps us get people to libraries.  But

15             we're looking for these libraries and

16             other services, we're looking for these

17             areas to be densely flagged with trip

18             generators.  So, trip generators are

19             what really keeps these services

20             moving.

21                  We just launched it.  It's working

22             out very well.  Hopefully this will

23             lead to some future innovations as we

24             go forward to increase the service

25             area.

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 2                  So, we just started our fall

 3             service adjustments.  This is a listing

 4             of what we have done.  We continue to

 5             add more service, we continue to add

 6             more express service and figuring out

 7             ways to get people from A to B quicker,

 8             more efficiently, safer.

 9                  So, on the N1, for example, the

10             UBS Elmont Long Island Railroad Station

11             destination, you know, for events, we

12             have now extended service for Saturday

13             and Sunday.

14                  The N16, we streamlined the

15             alignment through the NCC and did some

16             other things with the express service

17             in both directions.

18                  On the N19 Massapequa -- Freeport

19             to Massapequa, again adjusted the

20             service to better accommodate what's

21             going on in the area.  Express trips

22             are now on the N22.  That also serves

23             the Westbury Galleria shopping center.

24             Additional Saturday and Sunday

25             frequency on the Mineola N23 Manor

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 2             Haven service.

 3                  Again, Saturday and Sunday has

 4             outperformed Monday through Friday as

 5             far as ridership goes.  You travel in

 6             Nassau County now on Saturday, we have

 7             full buses, and that doesn't happen

 8             anywhere really in suburban anywhere,

 9             but we have full buses.  We're not to

10             the point where we have over-full buses

11             but we have full buses, so it really

12             speaks to efficiency.

13                  So, the N79, we're piling in some

14             express service there.  Then the N80 on

15             the Hicksville Massapequa line, the

16             mall, Sunrise Mall is seeing a

17             redevelopment.  So, that as the

18             destination is changing a little bit.

19             We're trying some different things

20             there to make that service more

21             efficient.  Not carrying the amount of

22             people it used to.  Again, the mall is

23             getting redeveloped and a lot of it's

24             going away, so we're trying to figure

25             out what to do there.  But that may be

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 2             a transitional period there that we

 3             have to understand a little bit more.

 4                  Community engagement.  Some big

 5             things happened over the last few

 6             months.  We're talking about all the

 7             way back to Spring.  First and

 8             foremost, back to school.  We held

 9             another school supply drive.

10                  I think, Erica, if I'm correct,

11             2,500 items were donated to United Way

12             for back to school.  The employees

13             really chipped in here.  We do that

14             every year.  And in the Thanksgiving

15             time and Christmas time, we'll do

16             turkey drives also.  So, it's a great

17             way for us to connect directly to

18             community.

19                  The big issue that we had this

20             year is we had Cricket.  Everybody

21             remember that?  It seems like ten years

22             ago but it was really just this last

23             spring, or summer.

24                  Ten days, we transported 24,000

25             people.  We quickly came together with

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 2             a plan, literally within three months,

 3             and put this together.  And it worked

 4             out great.

 5                  The partnership for Long Island

 6             Railroad and the county, but, yeah, it

 7             surprised us, 24,000 people.  You see a

 8             train -- we were at Westbury.  All of

 9             us were there.  We were at Westbury and

10             seeing a train unload a thousand people

11             get off and come down to buses.

12                  How do we get them paid and on

13             buses and to the event within an

14             appropriate amount of time was quite an

15             ordeal, quite a problem to solve, but

16             our team in transportation, Erica,

17             safety, Paratransit, everybody kind of

18             came up with solutions.

19                  Literally, we came up with tablets

20             that would -- people would be both able

21             to tap and go their card on the tablet,

22             get them on the bus.  It worked out

23             really, really well.  So, no issues

24             there.  Very, very happy.

25                  We're kind of wrapping up here.

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 2             Our score card for the quarter, we've

 3             have got a running score card.  We're

 4             on Q2 already, or Q2 is already behind

 5             us.

 6                  On-time performance slipped a

 7             little bit, and the reason being is

 8             because of the Cricket matches.  We had

 9             to pull some buses off regular routes,

10             adjust.  And we saw a little bit of hit

11             on our on-time performance.  Still

12             above our goal.  As you can see on Q2,

13             we're 88 percent.  We like to be in the

14             90s.

15                  Missed pullouts were a little bit

16             higher but, again, that doesn't mean a

17             bus did not do a trip, it just means it

18             didn't make the five-minute window to

19             pull out on time.  A little higher

20             again.

21                  I am happy to report, though --

22             and Todd is here from safety -- our

23             safety numbers came in very, very good

24             for the quarter; quite an improvement

25             from last quarter.  So, that's very

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 2             good to see.

 3                  On the Paratransit side, again,

 4             call answer ratios, it went down a

 5             little bit, but again within reason.

 6             Not exactly where I want it to be but

 7             we're a little short on

 8             reservationists.  We're back in the

 9             play right now and so that shouldn't be

10             a problem.

11                  On-time performance suffered a

12             little bit also again, back to Cricket,

13             but Inmer is here, our director of

14             Paratransit and Operations.  I think

15             we're back in the fold there.

16                  Missed pullouts again were a

17             little higher, but again, that's just

18             an on-time performance issue.  We want

19             to get pullout within the five-minute

20             window, and we may have missed a few

21             more, but it's very, very small

22             compared to our total.

23                  Accidents were great.  Our safety

24             record was very, very good last quarter

25             and really, really hit it out of the

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 2             park.

 3                  And productivity again rose a

 4             little bit, and that's about the sweet

 5             spot we want to be, about 135 to 145 on

 6             the productivity side.  After that, it

 7             becomes a little bit arduous for our

 8             customers.  So, overall the quarter was

 9             fairly strong for productivity and

10             service overall.

11                  So, what's coming up ahead, and

12             this is the last slide, I just wanted

13             to give everybody kind of a peek

14             because between now and the end of the

15             year, it's somewhat of a sprint.

16                  We all kind to say, Oh my gosh,

17             it's already the 19th of September, you

18             know, and before we know it, it's

19             Thanksgiving, then we go into Christmas

20             and the holidays.

21                  So, in January 2025, we're

22             thinking we're going to complete the

23             Rosa Parks upgrades completely, so we

24             can put that behind us a little bit and

25             just continue to maintain the center.

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 2                  In January, also we are required

 3             every three years to do a Title VI

 4             survey of all our riders, of our rider

 5             population.  What does that is mean?

 6             That means that we'll have an outside

 7             company coming in starting in January,

 8             probably a little earlier than that,

 9             and they'll start surveying our riders.

10                  They will have a questionnaire

11             about where they live, how they

12             identify, how they pay, how often they

13             ride, what they pay with, what's their

14             household income, you know, why do they

15             ride.  All those sort of demographic

16             understandings.

17                  It really helps us after we peel

18             through those demographics to

19             understand changing ridership patterns,

20             changing motivations, and helps us

21             design the system quite a bit.

22                  It is a mandated survey that the

23             FTA requires us to do every three

24             years.  So, it's a big project, though.

25             It won't be until April or so that

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 2             we'll have it finished and have it

 3             turned into the FTA, but that's coming

 4             in.

 5                  We already talked about new

 6             vehicles arriving, so that will be good

 7             to have them in service by Spring.

 8             Additionally, as we all know, April

 9             2025 will be the start of a new fiscal

10             year, our budget fiscal year, so I'll

11             be giving reports to the board and to

12             the public about how that's coming

13             along.

14                  Really, our big driver there is

15             what does the state allocate to bus

16             service here in Nassau County called

17             State Transportation Operating

18             Assistance Funding?  So, that's the

19             biggest part of our budget.  It's very

20             important we get that in there.

21                  We'll start in Albany literally in

22             October making sure that they

23             understand our needs and banging the

24             drum for Nassau County to continue on

25             our path of improving increasing

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 2             service throughout the period.  So,

 3             we've had a very good run and we don't

 4             want to let that slip at all.

 5                  In summer, we hope that the Oak

 6             Street charging station along our back

 7             fence line will be ready.  Currently,

 8             we're charging the electric buses with

 9             little portable rolling chargers.  When

10             they come in at night, they get plugged

11             in.  These rolling chargers get plugged

12             in.  But we hope by then we will have

13             the permanent charging -- secondary

14             charging station in the ground, ready

15             and operating.

16                  Each one of those chargers are

17             quite large and they have two charging

18             plugs.  They can charge two vehicles at

19             one time.  They're fast chargers

20             instead of the smaller ones, which take

21             a full eight-hour charge.  So, we're

22             hoping that that will be completed.

23                  What's holding us up right now is

24             a backlog on ordering those chargers.

25             ABB, who manufactures the chargers, and

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 2             Switchgear, has a long backlog, and we

 3             hope by then we'll be caught up and see

 4             what goes on.

 5                  Lastly, we continue to work toward

 6             the OMNY implementation.  We, again,

 7             are somewhat -- we depend on the MTA

 8             and their contractors to help us get

 9             this through, so they are still

10             figuring out as they go along also, but

11             we hope to have that implementation

12             some time in 2025.

13                  I can't tell you when because I

14             don't know, but it's moving forward,

15             but it's a slow process, and we hope to

16             have that maybe by the end of 2025.

17             We'll keep our fingers crossed there.

18                  That completes my presentation.

19             So, thank you.

20                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Thank you,

21             Mr. Khzouz.

22                  At this time, I am going to open

23             the floor for comments and questions.

24             First, the committee, of which, of

25             course, I have some.

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 2                  Mr. Khzouz, first I just want to

 3             congratulate you for getting through

 4             all of the challenges that NICE and

 5             Transit faced yesterday with all of the

 6             activity and street closures going on

 7             over at the coliseum.  You got through

 8             it.  That's all I could say.  You got

 9             through it.  Great job.

10                  My first question is, you noted

11             the relocation of the MetroCard kiosks

12             at Rosa Parks.  I just want to confirm

13             they're going to be in an easy,

14             accessible area for the public, if you

15             know where they will be.

16                  MR. KHZOUZ:  Unfortunately, for

17             the transition, tomorrow afternoon will

18             be the last day you can buy the

19             MetroCard until Monday at Rosa Parks.

20             Saturday and Sunday it will not be

21             available.  So, it's a challenge.

22                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Is it possible

23             to put out a notification on that?

24                  MR. KHZOUZ:  Yes.  So, that's what

25             we've already worked on.  We've also

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 2             notified our drivers to please be

 3             understanding.

 4                  So, there's no other way to work

 5             it.  We have to work through the MTA to

 6             get those things moving.  We don't move

 7             them ourselves.  So, they tell us when

 8             they can do it and they tell us when

 9             they can put them back.

10                  So, we tried to have that happen

11             on a Saturday, even a Sunday, and move

12             and move, but it wasn't going to

13             happen.  So, this weekend will be a bit

14             disruptive, but the communication team

15             and operations team has done what they

16             can to alert everybody in addition to

17             that.  Like I said, we're going to try

18             to be as flexible as possible with our

19             ridership.

20                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Thank you.

21             Just to provide notifications to the

22             public, that would be great.

23                  Then this may be going back a

24             little bit but I was hoping you might

25             touch a little bit on the successes and

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 2             challenges with the summer service to

 3             Jones Beach and the added services for

 4             all of their events.  How did that go?

 5                  MR. KHZOUZ:  It went very well.

 6             We started out of the gate like

 7             gangbusters because the weather was a

 8             little more cooperative this year than

 9             it was last year.  If you remember last

10             year, we had a lot of rain very early,

11             very cloudy, very overcast.  This year,

12             charge out of the gate very quickly.

13                  Both on the concert service and

14             the beach service where we ended up

15             having some shortfalls on ridership was

16             because of the state not being able to

17             staff lifeguards.

18                  So, last year and the years

19             before, they extended the beach season

20             almost all the way until mid October.

21             This year, they stopped a lot earlier.

22             So, the ridership had dropped off.

23                  Also too, the concerts had been

24             very spotty, and I don't know -- I'm

25             not a big concertgoer; I don't even

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 2             know --

 3                  MS. RICHARDS:  There is no rhyme

 4             or reason to it, as to why some

 5             concerts we have, we carry 800

 6             passengers to and from the theater and

 7             some we carry 45.  I can't find a

 8             pattern.  I can't find a trend line.  I

 9             don't know.  It's been like this

10             (Indicating.)

11                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Maybe the

12             younger population.

13                  MS. RICHARDS:  I don't know.

14                  MR. KHZOUZ:  I'd like to be able

15             to find a pattern but since I don't

16             recognize 99 percent of the bands right

17             now, I can't speak to that.

18                  So, but overall, the service ran

19             smoothly.  You know, over the years

20             we've made all the mistakes, and now we

21             have obviously corrected them.

22                  The Freeport and Hempstead both,

23             service has worked out very well.  It's

24             a great feel good service.  You know,

25             it's a service that doesn't require

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 2             having to go to work at 6:00 a.m. and

 3             standing in the cold.  So, we love it.

 4             And it's just a matter of we're victims

 5             of the weather.  Just like the air

 6             show.  You know, sometimes we'll do the

 7             air show service and then it will be

 8             canceled because of overcast.  That

 9             kind of thing.

10                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  I'm glad to

11             hear that ridership was decent enough

12             to keep it going.

13                  MR. KHZOUZ:  Oh, yes.

14                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  That was what

15             I was looking at.

16                  MR. KHZOUZ:  That's our commitment

17             to our customers.  Again, like I said,

18             that's the one -- I used to have a boss

19             saying, that's your one warm handshake,

20             you know.  That's the way to kind of

21             get it done.

22                  MS. RICHARDS:  So, for instance,

23             Long Island Railroad, they canceled the

24             combo ticket that they have with us

25             from the city and the boroughs to Jones

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 2             Beach because of the cut in lifeguards.

 3             However, we're still running daily

 4             beach service through September 29th.

 5                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Okay.

 6                  Okay, next question.  So, I love

 7             the idea of expanding the NICE mini

 8             service.  What is the charge, the rider

 9             charge on that?

10                  MR. KHZOUZ:  Same.  We try to make

11             it as seamless as possible.  So, you

12             pay 2.90, or if you have a discount

13             card, you pay on the discount card.  So

14             it makes it very seamless that way.

15             You get the free transfer to the fixed

16             route system without a problem.

17                  If you are a Paratransit customer

18             with door-to-door on the Able-Ride

19             side, you pay the Able-Ride fee, which

20             is $4.00.  So, but, again, we're trying

21             to make it easy.  Instead of going,

22             okay, well, this is 3.50, this is 2.90,

23             this is 4, so we make it as simple as

24             possible, and we try to make it as

25             seamless as possible.

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 2                  The idea there is to really get

 3             people to the larger routes.  So, if we

 4             can get them there and then they can

 5             take the bigger bus wherever they need

 6             to go, then that works out really well.

 7                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Thank you so

 8             much.  I appreciate it.

 9                  Mr. Duroseau, any questions or

10             comments?

11                  MEMBER DUROSEAU:  Those guys are

12             amazing from the beginning.  All I keep

13             on giving them, and they make it easy

14             for me, A+, A+, A+.  I have been here

15             since you guys started.

16                  One question about Rosa Park

17             upgrade.  Anything in the blueprints

18             for solar panel, something like that?

19                  MR. KHZOUZ:  Well, we've been

20             talking about how we do that.

21             Currently, the technology to charge

22             large buses with solar panels isn't

23             there yet, but it doesn't mean that we

24             can't put solar panels on this lot to

25             charge our non-revenue vehicles, our

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 2             supervisor vehicles, and/or the

 3             building.

 4                  So, we're talking about that with

 5             the county on how we make this building

 6             a green neutral building and/or be able

 7             to provide service back to the

 8             provider, selling service back.  So,

 9             those are the two avenues we're looking

10             at.

11                  On the Paratransit side, there may

12             be opportunities there.  There isn't a

13             electric Paratransit vehicle currently

14             but we think that technology will

15             change also.  So, those are things that

16             we're exploring.

17                  Obviously, the infrastructure of

18             this building is older and needs some

19             upgrades to be able to do that, but

20             with the power stations that we're

21             installing for the larger buses, that

22             allows us to understand a little bit

23             the infrastructure that needs to be put

24             in.

25                  MEMBER DUROSEAU:  Thank you.

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 2                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Thank you

 3             both.

 4                  Anything else, Mr. Duroseau?

 5                  MEMBER DUROSEAU:  No.

 6                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  At this time,

 7             I am going to open up the floor to

 8             public comments and questions.  I am

 9             just going to ask that they be done in

10             somewhat of an orderly fashion.  If you

11             will raise your hands, I will point at

12             you, and if you could please very

13             clearly state your name, where you are

14             from, and then we're going to be

15             limiting you to two minutes.

16                  Please state your name and where

17             you are from before you begin.

18                  MR. TORCIVIA:  Joe Torcivia.

19             Levittown.  Okay.  Now, in honor of our

20             new committee chairperson, Dawn, I am

21             going to make this my shortest comments

22             speech ever.

23                  Very encouraged to see new express

24             service popping up, especially in

25             places that suffered previous cuts, but

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 2             I wonder how it's doing.

 3                  Assuming that people that have had

 4             years of reduced or no bus service do

 5             not regularly visit the website, as

 6             some of us nutty people do, how are

 7             they made aware of it?  There's never

 8             even been a bus on most of Sunrise

 9             Highway, for instance.

10                  On express service, one thing I

11             suggested previously but could become

12             more of a possibility now is extending

13             the N6 express eastward on Hempstead

14             Turnpike to East Meadow, Levittown, or

15             even Bethpage, a straight one-seat ride

16             to connect with the subway and

17             eliminating the delay of detouring into

18             Rosa Parks Hempstead Transit Center

19             could be an attractive thing that could

20             carry more than the currently

21             implemented express items might.  I

22             would definitely transfer to it from

23             the N49.

24                  Finally the 90-minute gap on the

25             N49 on Saturday really ought to be

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 2             reduced to a reasonable hourly

 3             schedule.

 4                  Thank you.

 5                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Thank you,

 6             Mr. Torcivia.  I appreciate it.

 7                  Anyone else?

 8                  Yes, sir?  Please state your name

 9             and where you are from.

10                  MR. DAVI:  Good evening, everyone.

11             I'm Salvatore Davi (phon).  I'm a new

12             Paratransit customer.  This is my first

13             meeting.  I am currently residing in

14             Greenvale.

15                  Currently, as far as I know, there

16             is no weekend bus service for the N27

17             bus route.  Would it be possible for

18             NICE to modify the N21, in particular

19             to serve Greenvale station Long Island

20             Railroad customers as well as provide

21             weekend bus service to residents of

22             Greenvale and Old Brookville near Glen

23             Cove Road, preferably a route change

24             from Roslyn Clock Tower to Bryant

25             Avenue and to Glenwood Road continuing

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 2             on Bryant Avenue to Plaza Road where

 3             the Greenvale station is, onwards to

 4             Glen Cove Avenue, returning back to

 5             Glenwood Road via Scutters Lane?

 6                  Another possibility would be to

 7             include certain bus intervals to meet

 8             the Greenvale station, both east and

 9             westbound intervals from Plaza Road.

10                  Greenvale station currently runs

11             on a two-hour interval on weekends from

12             9:18 a.m. to 11:18 p.m. westbound and

13             with an earlier additional trip at 5:51

14             in the morning, eastbound from 8:17

15             a.m. to 8:17 p.m., with the last

16             interval at 11:17 p.m.

17                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Thank you,

18             Mr. Davi.  I have a quick question for

19             you or Mr. Khzouz.

20                  What is the closest bus to the

21             Greenvale station currently, because I

22             do not know the answer?

23                  MR. DAVI:  N27.

24                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  How far is

25             that from the station?

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 2                  MR. DAVI:  They don't have

 3             weekends.

 4                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  I know.  I

 5             heard that they don't have the weekend

 6             service.  But during the week, how

 7             close is it to the station?

 8                  MR. DAVI:  It's maybe about a

 9             block away.

10                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  One block?

11                  MR. DAVI:  I would have to cross

12             the street.

13                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Okay, thank

14             you.  I'll take that under advisement.

15                  Is there anyone else that has

16             comments or questions?

17                  Sir, I'm going to ask that you

18             state your name and where you are from.

19                  MR. D'SOUZA:  Sure.  So, I'm the

20             president of Passengers United.  We're

21             a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

22                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Can you please

23             spell that for the stenographer?

24                  MR. D'SOUZA:  Sure.  My name is

25             Charlton D'Souza.  It's

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 2             C-H-A-R-L-T-O-N, then D-S-O-U-Z-A.

 3                  Overall, we're very impressed with

 4             NICE Bus, but there are some concerns.

 5                  So, one thing we noticed, the

 6             summer service was much better with the

 7             newer buses.  We saw very few

 8             breakdowns, which was good.  However,

 9             we're very concerned about the late

10             night service on the N6 because when

11             events are getting out of UBS arena and

12             you only have three or four buses

13             running and you have the N6 bus running

14             on 20-minute headways and let's say if

15             a bus does break down or stuck in

16             traffic, we're seeing very dangerous

17             levels of crowding on the N6.

18                  And it's not safe for the driver

19             because if the driver has to apply his

20             brakes or whatever, you know, people

21             are hitting each other, bumping into

22             each other.

23                  So, maybe I think events -- on

24             nights where events are taking place at

25             UBS arena, maybe you guys should run

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 2             the articulated bus at night.  I don't

 3             know if that's a possibility, if that

 4             could be done, but that would help with

 5             some of the crowds and adjustments, and

 6             also better coordination with your role

 7             operations because sometimes Jamaica

 8             Avenue is closed, as we saw last week,

 9             because of the road work, and the buses

10             were lost.  Literally, there was no

11             coordination.  Buses were just going

12             down Springfield.  They were trying to

13             go down other streets.  So that has to

14             be worked out.

15                  In terms of the express buses, I

16             was just on the N22X and I only saw

17             five or six people from Jamaica.  So,

18             maybe you will need to look at, you

19             know, maybe working it out where maybe

20             the express makes three or more

21             additional stops so it can accommodate

22             more people.

23                  But that's the concern we're

24             getting from some of our members with

25             the express service, that it's not

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 2             picking up enough people.  So, what is

 3             the cost of that with the local service

 4             where the local service is getting very

 5             crowded?  So, I guess, the NICE Bus

 6             people will figure that out.

 7                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Yes.  I have a

 8             question.  When you noted your issues

 9             with the UBS arena bus service, do you

10             think that's more of a traffic control

11             issue with the crowds?  I mean, you are

12             talking about tens of thousands of

13             people coming out at once, or do you

14             really believe that that's NICE Bus

15             issue?  I mean, I've been there to see

16             it.  That's why I'm curious what your

17             position is.

18                  MR. D'SOUZA:  Well, it's a

19             combination of both, but because the

20             arena is in Nassau County and the bus

21             shelter, the way it's positioned,

22             it's -- you know, a lot of people

23             gravitate towards the Nassau side

24             obviously because they don't want to

25             take the city bus, they want to take

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 2             NICE because it goes express in Queens.

 3             And so what's happening is, we're

 4             seeing the westbound service heavy

 5             ridership at night.

 6                  And sometimes there's only -- the

 7             bus comes every 20 minutes after, like,

 8             8:00 o'clock, 9:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m.,

 9             and so that's messing the bus going

10             back eastbound because now the bus is

11             late and sometimes -- very rarely I've

12             seen two buses bunched together, but

13             that has to be looked at.

14                  Maybe you should have more

15             service.  Maybe, I think, have an

16             Arctic running, and that will solve

17             that problem because at least everyone

18             will be able to get on.  Sometimes you

19             can't even get on the N6 and you gotta

20             wait 20 minutes.

21                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  I am sorry, we

22             have passed the time.  I realize part

23             of that is my fault because I asked

24             more questions, but have you had an

25             opportunity to put some of your

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 2             concerns in writing by any chance that

 3             you would be willing to submit?

 4                  MR. D'SOUZA:  Yes, I will submit

 5             it to Erica.

 6                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Okay, great.

 7                  Thank you, Mr. D'Souza.

 8                  MS. RICHARDS:  Reach out.

 9                  MR. D'SOUZA:  Sorry about that.

10                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  I appreciate

11             it.  Thank you.

12                  Is there anyone else from the

13             public that wishes to make a comment or

14             ask any questions?

15                  MS. KAUR:  My name is Rajwan,

16             R-A-J-W-A-N-T, and last name is Kaur,

17             K-A-U-R.  I'm from Hempstead.

18                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Thank you,

19             Ms. Kaur.

20                  MS. KAUR:  I just have this

21             question.  Is there any discounts for

22             old age people or the students because

23             they're always out of cash or always

24             out of money?  Is there any kind of --

25             like, do you guys have discounts for

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 2             them?

 3                  MS. RICHARDS:  So, we offer a

 4             senior discount for riders that are 65

 5             years or older and a disabled discount

 6             for qualified individuals.

 7                  And we have various levels of how

 8             you can qualify.  Whether or not you

 9             have a Medicare card or Medicaid card,

10             a Nassau County disability card, an

11             Able-Ride membership, or any other type

12             of recognized disability proof.  So,

13             that discount and fare is $1.45.

14                  Children, 44 inches or shorter

15             ride free.  Then our student

16             discount -- the way we define students

17             are high school age and younger.

18             College students are not eligible for

19             our student fare.  So, for high school

20             age and younger students, we provide a

21             student discount of $2.25.

22                  That is good for rides to and from

23             school only, so it is only valid from

24             Monday through Friday, 6:00 a.m. to

25             7:00 p.m. It is not valid on the

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 2             weekends or holidays because it is

 3             designed to help kids get to and from

 4             school only.  And that fare is $2.25.

 5                  MS. KAUR:  Thank you.

 6                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Thank you.

 7                  Are there any other questions or

 8             comments?

 9                  MR. DAVI:  I believe you were

10             asking me about the distance.

11                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Yes.

12                  MR. DAVI:  They have a bus stop at

13             Helen Street, and that is going in the

14             direction of Hempstead, but on the

15             other side going towards Glen Cove --

16                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  The other side

17             of what?  The other side of Helen

18             Street?

19                  MR. DAVI:  The other side of Back

20             Road and Glen Cove Avenue.  There is no

21             bus stop at the station, the Greenvale

22             station, heading towards the Hempstead

23             direction.

24                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Okay, great.

25             Thank you, Mr. Davi.

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 2                  MR. DAVI:  Thank you.

 3                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Are there any

 4             other questions or comments from the

 5             public at this time?

 6                  MR. HO:  Alexander Ho.

 7                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Spell your

 8             name, please.

 9                  MR. HO:  Hotel Oscar.  Only two

10             letters.  From Farmingdale.

11                  Mr. CEO, you had mentioned that

12             the MetroCard machine is going to be

13             out of service this weekend.  Will a

14             notification be sent also via social

15             media channels?

16                  MR. KHZOUZ:  The answer is yes.

17                  MR. HO:  Also, as an aside, where

18             else in Nassau County can MetroCards be

19             refilled besides the MetroCard station

20             at Hempstead?

21                  MS. RICHARDS:  That's a

22             million-dollar question.  You know, the

23             MTA has been phasing out the MetroCard

24             because they have invested so heavily

25             into the OMNY system.  And to be honest

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 2             with you, there weren't a lot of places

 3             in Nassau County to buy it 12 years

 4             ago, so --

 5                  (Crosstalk)

 6                  MR. HO:  Online.

 7                  MS. RICHARDS:  I don't even know

 8             that they're doing that anymore, to be

 9             honest with you.  They have ended

10             the -- I believe it was called Easy Pay

11             refillable online system, and they have

12             discontinued that.  And honestly, I

13             don't know -- I should know -- but I

14             will do research on that.  But that

15             would be really an MTA question.

16                  MR. HO:  Got it.  I'm willing to

17             assume the Hempstead Transit Center is

18             the only place.

19                  MS. RICHARDS:  You may be able to

20             do it at Long Island Railroad stations.

21             And Long Island Railroad stations do

22             sell MetroCards.  However, I believe

23             the lowest denomination you can buy

24             them in is $20.

25                  MR. HO:  I found it.

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 2                  MS. RICHARDS:  Can you email me

 3             that?  I'll take a look.

 4                  (Off the record)

 5                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Are there any

 6             other new comments or questions that we

 7             haven't addressed at this time?

 8                  All right, well, that being said,

 9             I am just going to ask Mr. Duroseau if

10             you have a motion to adjourn the

11             meeting?

12                  MEMBER DUROSEAU:  Yes.  I second.

13                  CHAIRPERSON FALCO:  Okay.  You

14             make a motion and I'll second it.

15                  Thank you so much.  All right,

16             everybody, thank you so much for coming

17             down.  I really appreciate you making

18             the effort and for your participation

19             in the commentary.

20

21                  *         *         *         *

22        IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED THAT THE FOREGOING IS
          A TRUE AND ACCURATE TRANSCRIPT OF THE
23        STENOGRAPHIC MINUTES OF THIS MEETING

24           
            <%28116,Signature%>
25         Debra Smith    Court Reporter
          
                          












