Well today was the first weekday of service for Nassau-Intercounty Express (NICE) bus, the privatized replacement for Long Island Bus. I also was able to barrow an Unlimited. My impression from today is that absolutely nothing has changed except for the drivers uniforms (now starched white shirts, black ties and embroidered jackets) and stickers over the MTA Logos on the exterior of all the buses. I did see one bus (while on another) in the new mostly orange NICE bus livery who’s use of lots of color reminds me of Mountain Metro in Colorado Springs. Inside the buses some had been stripped of their MTA ads (and replaced with a few introducing NICE Bus), while others had plenty with just an MTA branded sign about the Riders did not seem to notice a difference, and their were for example no welcome to NICE bus representatives at the Hempstead Transit Center. This was how signage from both operators seemed to be the norm on the buses:
Today’s itinerary began on the A train to the E train out to Jamaica Center. I left early shortly before 8 getting to Jamaica shortly after 9, to maximize my time for photographing the waiting rooms on the Island that close at 2pm. Their I hopped aboard the N4 with a supervisor dispatching the bus, I also saw her now completely white (the MTA Long Island Bus logo with a sticker clearly over it) vehicle. I took this out to Valley Stream–(41 photos of the station plus 11 of artwork, and a description were added) where I did my first photo essay.
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Next was the cold (it is one of the first real cold days of winter, the high was only 25 degrees, the light though excellent) 4.5 mile walk down the Far Rockaway Branch to Lawrence, via Gison, Hewlett, Cedarhurst and Woodmere, pausing in each of the open waiting rooms to warm my hands. My original plan for the day was to continue south and do some Rockaway Subway stations but the coldness and the fact I still had an hour and a half to get a few more waiting rooms changed my mind. I took the N31 to Lynbrook, did my photo essay there. Then hopped back on the N4 to Baldwin, transferring to the N– to get to the station because I saw it. Got that photo essay done, and then got back on the N– back home via the Hempstead Transit Center to see if anything had changed there. Nothing had, all of the Long Island Bus Branding was basically intact. There were no “Welcome to NICE Bus” signs or the like, a few MTA Long Island Bus logos had been stickered out on exterior signage but most are still intact.
I then took the N6 back to Jamaica, getting of at actual last stop at the 165 Street bus terminal, basically a parking lot with a sheltered sidewalk for boarding buses and no inside area to wait because I had never been there before. I walked up to Parsons Blvd and did some rail fanning because I currently lack entrances at most of the Queens Blvd stops. First I went out to Jamaica-179th, go on an E express train (it was the next to leave) to Parsons before transferring to the F to Bairwood-Van Wyck Blvd, a mess of a station due to a road construction project, double backed to Sutphin Blvd, continued with a final stop at 75 Avenue, and called it a day.