Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano is reportedly revisiting bids from private companies previously rejected from consideration to take over Long Island Bus operations, with the prospect of a short-term contingency plan for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to continue running the bus lines beyond Dec. 31.
“You could have another bidder step in now, but to get to the point where Veolia (Transportation) is now, it would take months,” said Nassau County Legislator Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park).
“It would just be pure chaos,” he added.
Nicolello said he understood Mangano is speaking to the MTA about a contingency arrangement that would keep the current public bus operation in place for 30 to 60 days after the current MTA deal expires at year’s end. A press report cited a source familiar with the situation saying that Mangano was considering other bidders to take over the bus operation.
A spokeswoman for Mangano said the county executive had no comment on the situation.
Alternate options to the Long Island Bus contract with Veolia Transportation are being considered in the wake of Tuesday’s announcement that Veolia parent company Veolia Entertainment would gradually sell its shares in the transportation subsidiary to its partner, Caisse Des Depots.
Veolia issued a statement on Thursday saying the $10 billion subsidiary would retain the capacity to “fully deliver upon promises made to Nassau County” and its 200 other contracts in North America.
Nicolello said legislators need to review information about the company’s planned transition prior to a possible vote on the Veolia contract on Monday, but said the ownership change might not have an adverse impact on the proposed contract.
“I’m not sure that it’s going to have any effect whatsoever on the contract,” Nicolello said.
He said implementation of an MTA contingency plan “punches a hole in our budget” since it would be pro-rated according to the $140 million annual budget the MTA had maintained to run the public bus service. The privatized plan for the bus service with Veolia caps first year expenditures at $106 million.
“We all need to hear answers to the questions about how this would impact Veolia’s ability to honor the contract that’s in front of us,” said Nasasau County Legislator Judi Bosworth (D-Great Neck).
Those questions will be posed during a continuation of the Dec. 5 public hearing on the Veolia deal on Dec. 12 at 5 p.m.
Bosworth said that if alternatives to Veolia are considered, the essential issue is ensuring continuity of service for those who rely on the buses.
“We have to make sure there’s bus transportation for 100,000 people who depend on bus transportation,” she said.
