Skip to main content

Historic $106 million annual public-private transit agreement

In a historic and unanimous vote, the Nassau County Legislature, Long Island, New York, has approved a contract with Veolia Transportation to manage the county's bus and paratransit system under a new public-private operating partnership to commence January 1, 2012. The value of the contract is US$106 million annually and makes Veolia Transportation the service provider of four of the top five largest transit contracts in the US, including Nassau County, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and New Orleans. The company won
March 27, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
In a historic and unanimous vote, the Nassau County Legislature, Long Island, New York, has approved a contract with 4432 Veolia Transportation to manage the county's bus and paratransit system under a new public-private operating partnership to commence January 1, 2012.

The value of the contract is US$106 million annually and makes Veolia Transportation the service provider of four of the top five largest transit contracts in the US, including Nassau County, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and New Orleans. The company won the five-year contract with a five-year renewal option as part of an extensive procurement process managed by Nassau County that began early in 2011. The system has recently been re-named Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE).

The Nassau County transit system transports 31 million bus passengers and 280,000 paratransit passengers each year and has been managed by the New York MTA since 1973. This contract is an example of a new kind of public-private operating partnership pioneered by Veolia. The County retains ownership of buses, equipment, facilities and other infrastructure, plus control over fares and service levels, while Veolia manages and operates all aspects of the transit system on the County's behalf, bringing private sector efficiences and expertise.

"Nassau's public-private partnership with Veolia represents a new, smarter and more efficient way of providing services in Nassau County," said Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano. "Today marks a new era of service quality for riders, job opportunities for employees and reduced costs for local taxpayers. All across the US, taxpayers are demanding that governments spend less, be more accountable and deliver better quality - and with this partnership with Veolia Transportation, Nassau County is doing just that."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • US closer to finalising a new reauthorisation bill
    January 25, 2012
    Pete Goldin talks with ITS America about the continuing efforts of US Congress to finalise a transportation reauthorisation bill and how this will impact the ITS industry
  • Open data gives new lease of life to public travel information screens
    March 4, 2014
    David Crawford finds resurgent interest in travel information screens for buildings. With city governments worldwide increasingly opening up and sharing their public transport data for general use, attention is focusing on the potential financial benefits – to transit operators and businesses more widely. Professor Stephen Goldsmith, who directs the US’ Harvard University’s Data-Smart City Solutions Project says: “Amid nationwide public-sector budget cuts, open data is providing a road map for improving tra
  • Home based real time travel information drives reduction in car use
    January 20, 2012
    David Crawford investigates a new approach to discouraging car use - the 'kitchen as travel centre'. ITS technology working together with UK planning legislation is driving an innovative 'kitchen as travel centre' approach to home design which is boosting public transport as an alternative to car use. The combination is already proving powerful enough to assuage environmentalist opposition to major urban developments. It is also being seen as a way of delivering wider social and community benefits inside an
  • Dubai introduces contactless payment on public transport
    October 19, 2012
    Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) is to launch a contactless fare payment system on the city’s metro, public buses and water bus. Passengers will be able to pay by smart mobile phones using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. The RTA says that contactless technology, where the mobile phone is passed over sensors mounted on the access gates to public transport stations, is the first of its kind in the Middle East.