Bus riders adjust as NICE system changes

Returning from his job in Jericho Sunday, Mike Sax hoped to quickly catch the N20 bus to Hicksville, then the N49 on his way home to Baldwin.

His timing was almost perfect -- for the schedule he'd come to know.

But Easter Sunday was the first day of major service changes in Nassau's bus system, and because his buses' departures had shifted, Sax walked from Hicksville's Broadway Mall to the Long Island Rail Road hub, then waited an hour for his connection.

"I'm 0-for-2 in figuring this out," said the 40-year-old security guard, noting the two lines in which he narrowly missed hourly departures. "I want to believe that this will help people, but for now I'm a skeptic."

The changes on some NICE Bus lines are meant to close a $7 million budget gap while providing better service for almost a third of the system's nearly 35,000 riders. Weekday express routes were added to and from Queens, while lesser-used lines were cut for nonpeak hours.

NICE officials say they were able to make the changes without wholly eliminating any of the line's 48 routes. They point out that the new N6 and N22 express routes, to and from Jamaica and Flushing, respectively, could cut travel time up to 20 minutes each way.

Rodney Benny, a dietitian from Uniondale, frequently takes the N6 into Queens, and said he welcomes the express.

"That would make things much easier," he said Sunday, waiting for a bus at the Hempstead Transit Center. "It helps with people's time management, that's for sure."

Minutes earlier, Benny studied the service change summary posted on the wall. He nearly didn't realize that his bus now stops at a different bay.

"I'm sure if people don't come in and look at the signs, they could be late for work," he said with a laugh.

Back in Hicksville, Julia Arteaga and her 12-year-old son, Jose, awaited the N24 bus to Roosevelt Field mall. Jose thumbed through a stack of newly revised bus schedules, soaking up all the changes.

"He already knows everything," Julia Arteaga said. "He collects all the timetables."

So what was his verdict?

"We're really not that hurt by it," Jose said, noting most of the lines his family rides are expanding. "But other people are going to have to find alternatives, and there aren't always alternatives."