NICE Able-Ride and Suffolk SCAT: who qualifies, how to apply, and crossing the county line

Able-Ride, SCAT and HART at a glance

Long Island has three ADA paratransit systems, split by county and, in one case, by town. Nassau has NICE Able-Ride. Suffolk has Suffolk County Accessible Transportation (SCAT). Inside the Town of Huntington, trips that start and end in the town go to HART paratransit instead of SCAT.

	NICE Able-Ride Nassau County	SCAT Suffolk County	HART paratransit Town of Huntington
Run by	Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE)	Suffolk County Transit	Town of Huntington
Where it goes	Trips that start and end within 3/4 mile of a NICE bus route running at that time	Any two points in Suffolk, except Shelter Island and trips that start and end in the Town of Huntington	Trips that start and end inside the Town of Huntington
Hours	Same days and hours as the NICE bus in that area	Monday to Saturday 5 AM to 10 PM, Sunday 6 AM to 8 PM	Call HART for current hours
Fare	$4.00 each way	$4.00 per trip	$4.00 per one-way ride
Book	up to 7 days ahead, by phone 8:30 AM to 5 PM daily	1 to 5 days ahead, no same-day trips	up to 14 days ahead, and no later than the day before
Pickup window	30 minutes; the driver waits 5 minutes	30 minutes; the bus waits up to 10 minutes	Pickup set within an hour of your request
Door or curb	Door-to-door from the outermost exterior door	Curb-to-curb; help to the building entrance if you ask when booking	Curb-to-curb; more help on request, based on need
Reservations	516-228-4000	631-738-1150	631-427-8287

Who qualifies for Able-Ride or SCAT?

Both follow the federal ADA rules for paratransit, so the question is whether a disability keeps you from using the regular bus. NICE describes Able-Ride riders as people who are prevented from getting to, boarding or riding its fixed-route buses. Suffolk County Transit lists three ways to qualify for SCAT:

• you cannot use Suffolk County Transit buses without help;
• the bus route you need is not accessible; or
• your disability, combined with environmental barriers or circumstances, keeps you from using the bus.

SCAT points out that every Suffolk County Transit bus already has a wheelchair lift or ramp. Paratransit is meant for the trips a disability still makes impossible by bus. A temporary disability can qualify for three or six months, and full SCAT eligibility is renewed every three years. HART is the one local exception on age: it also enrolls Town of Huntington residents 60 or older who do not drive, at a lower priority than ADA riders.

How to apply for Able-Ride

1. Get the form. NICE's Apply for Able-Ride page has a standard, a large-print and a Spanish application. You can also ask for one at 516-228-4000.
2. Part A is yours. You fill it in, or a family member, friend or counselor does it for you.
3. Part B is your clinician's. A licensed health care professional, such as a physician, psychiatrist or social worker, completes and signs it.
4. Add a photo. A recent color, passport-style photo on a plain white background. NICE accepts original documents only and turns away cropped or edited household photos.
5. Mail the original to NICE Able-Ride, 947 Stewart Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530. NICE may ask you to come in for an interview or a functional evaluation.
6. Wait up to 21 days. NICE decides within 21 days of a complete application. If it has not, you get presumptive eligibility from day 22 until a written denial. Approved riders receive an ID card.

A denial can be appealed in writing within 60 days. The appeal is heard by someone who was not part of the first decision.

How to apply for SCAT

SCAT applications run through the Suffolk County Office for People with Disabilities, which posts the form in English (printable and fillable) and Spanish. Mail it to SCAT c/o the Office for People with Disabilities, William J. Lindsay County Complex, Bldg. 158, 725 Veterans Memorial Hwy, PO Box 6100, Hauppauge, NY 11788, or call 631-853-8333 on weekdays from 9 AM to 4:30 PM to have one sent. Suffolk notifies you within 21 days of a complete application, and an incomplete one is not considered. Appeals go in writing within 60 days of the denial, and the county decides an appeal in writing within 30 days.

One practical point for both counties: apply before you need a ride. Neither can approve a new rider on the day of a hospital discharge, so if surgery or a new treatment is coming, start the paperwork first.

Booking a ride: how far ahead, and what the window means

Able-Ride

• Call 516-228-4000 any day from 8:30 AM to 5 PM, up to seven days ahead, or book online through Able-Ride web booking.
• Book the ride home on the same call. Able-Ride does not take "will call" returns, so you give a return time up front. If you must arrive by a set time, ask to book by appointment time.
• The pickup window is 30 minutes, 15 on either side of the scheduled time: ask for 8:00 and the van can come any time from 7:45 to 8:15. Be ready at the start. The driver waits five minutes after arriving.
• Riding the same trip at least twice a week? Ask for subscription service, which books it for you when space allows.
• Cancel at least two hours ahead. Later cancellations count as no-shows and can lead to a suspension. NICE does not hold it against you when an appointment runs unexpectedly late or you fall suddenly ill; call within 48 hours to dispute a no-show.

SCAT

• Book 1 to 5 days ahead, never the same day, at 631-738-1150 (Monday to Saturday 7 AM to 5 PM, Sunday 8 AM to 4:30 PM) or any time in the SCAT Paratransit app.
• SCAT may set your pickup up to an hour before or after the time you ask for, so have a second time in mind when you call.
• Pickups use a 30-minute window. The bus can arrive up to 15 minutes early and waits no more than 10 minutes, so it can leave before your scheduled time.
• Cancel at least two hours ahead to avoid a late cancellation.

What a ride costs

• Able-Ride: $4.00 each way, exact cash or tickets from a 20-trip ticket book. A certified personal care attendant rides free; guests pay the full fare.
• SCAT: $4.00 per trip, exact cash or a card in the app. Companions pay $4.00, a personal care attendant on your account rides free, and children under 5 ride free.
• HART: $4.00 per one-way ride, exact cash. A personal care attendant rides free; companions pay.

When a trip crosses from one system to another, you pay each system's fare.

Where Able-Ride and SCAT go, and the gaps

Able-Ride's 3/4-mile rule

Able-Ride only takes trips that start and end within 3/4 mile of a NICE bus route that is running at that hour. When the bus is not running, Able-Ride is not either. NICE lists seven areas it does not serve at all:

• Syosset
• Bayville
• Oyster Bay
• Lido Beach
• Point Lookout
• Locust Valley
• Sands Point

It serves only part of Valley Stream, Woodmere, Old Bethpage, Hicksville, Long Beach, Glen Cove, Plainview and Lawrence. Call 516-228-4000 to check a specific address before you count on it.

SCAT's county-wide area

SCAT covers any two points in Suffolk (Monday to Saturday 5 AM to 10 PM, Sunday 6 AM to 8 PM), with a few limits. Its earliest and latest hours only run within 3/4 mile of a Suffolk County Transit route that is operating then. And it does not serve Shelter Island, or trips that start and end inside the Town of Huntington (Huntington, Huntington Station, Melville, Dix Hills, Northport and nearby hamlets), which belong to HART at 631-427-8287. A trip from Huntington to Smithtown is SCAT's; a trip from Huntington Station to Huntington village is HART's.

Crossing the county line: where you change vans

This is where Long Island paratransit gets hard. Each county runs its own system, so a trip across a county line is usually two rides with a stop in between, and two fares.

Nassau to Suffolk

Since July 2023, Able-Ride drives straight into three parts of western Suffolk near NICE bus routes: the Farmingdale area on the Suffolk side of the line, Amityville, and Huntington along Jericho Turnpike, including the Walt Whitman Mall. Hours there follow the NICE buses and can change each quarter. For anywhere else in Suffolk, you ride Able-Ride to a transfer point and switch to SCAT:

• IHOP, 201 Airport Plaza Blvd, Farmingdale
• Walt Whitman Mall (LensCrafters), Huntington

For any trip between the counties, call Able-Ride at 516-228-4000. NICE says its reservationist coordinates the SCAT leg.

Suffolk to Nassau

SCAT does not drive into Nassau. Riders heading west switch to Able-Ride at the same transfer points, or connect to the LIRR, and pay both fares.

Nassau to Queens and the rest of New York City

Able-Ride also runs directly into parts of Queens near NICE routes: Far Rockaway since September 2023, and Jamaica and Flushing since January 2024. For anywhere else in the city, you switch to MTA Access-A-Ride at:

• Green Acres Mall, main south entrance at Panera Bread, Valley Stream
• Northwell Health, 450 Lakeville Rd, Door D, New Hyde Park

Book both legs yourself: Able-Ride at 516-228-4000 and Access-A-Ride at 877-337-2017. The MTA says there are no free transfers between the systems.

What a long trip looks like

Take a Brentwood resident with an appointment at NYU Langone's Tisch Hospital in Manhattan, 43.3 miles away by road. By paratransit, that is SCAT to a transfer point, Able-Ride across Nassau, then Access-A-Ride into Manhattan: three systems, three fares and two transfers, each with its own pickup window, and the same again to get home.

Visiting rather than living here? SCAT serves visitors who are certified for paratransit where they live for any 21 days in a 365-day period, and NICE gives out-of-state visitors the same 21 days on Able-Ride. After that, you apply like a resident.

When a door-to-door medical ride is the better fit

Paratransit does a lot for a low fare. The vehicles carry riders in their own wheelchairs, and trips can be for almost any purpose. The agencies are also clear about what it is not. NICE's Riders Guide says Able-Ride is not medical transportation or an ambulette. Suffolk County Transit says SCAT takes most kinds of trips, including non-emergency medical trips, but is not a substitute for medical transportation: its buses are not equipped, and its drivers are not trained, to handle a medical emergency. A private medical ride usually fits better when:

• The ride is today. SCAT runs no same-day trips, and a new application takes up to 21 days. A hospital discharge that is ready this afternoon needs another plan.
• The time cannot slide. A dialysis chair time or a procedure check-in leaves little room for a 30-minute window, a shared route, or SCAT moving a pickup by up to an hour.
• The trip crosses a county line outside the areas Able-Ride now serves directly, or goes into Manhattan.
• You live in a gap, such as Syosset, Oyster Bay or Bayville, or far from a Suffolk bus route early or late in the day.
• The rider cannot be left alone. Able-Ride drivers are not allowed to stay with a rider who cannot be left unattended, and they do not go into buildings past the entrance.

DachiPlus picks up at your door at the time you book, the ride is not shared, and we drive across county lines and into the city with no transfer. Our own cars carry riders who walk and wheelchair users who can move to a car seat. If you need to stay in your wheelchair for the ride, we arrange it with a licensed wheelchair-van partner through our ambulette service; for some power-chair users, a paratransit van is the simpler choice. Not sure which you need? Our explainer on NEMT vs. ambulette walks through it.

With Medicaid: medical rides are booked through MAS at 1-844-666-6270. MAS sets the type of transportation first and then considers your request, and you can ask for DachiPlus by name. MAS says authorized trips cost nothing and routine appointments should be booked three days ahead. Our MAS Medicaid guide covers the call.

Paying privately: trips are priced by distance. The cost estimator gives a figure for your actual addresses, or call (516) 754-7777.

For the wider picture, including buses, the LIRR and senior programs, see how to get around Long Island without a car and free transportation for seniors on Long Island. Suffolk riders comparing SCAT with a wheelchair van can read our guide to ambulette service in Suffolk County.

Frequently asked questions

Is DachiPlus part of Able-Ride or SCAT?

No. DachiPlus is a private medical transportation company and is not affiliated with NICE, Suffolk County Transit or the Town of Huntington. We cannot apply for, book or cancel paratransit trips. For Able-Ride, call 516-228-4000. For SCAT reservations, call 631-738-1150; for a SCAT application, call the Suffolk County Office for People with Disabilities at 631-853-8333.

How long does an Able-Ride or SCAT application take?

Both counties say they decide within 21 days of receiving a complete application. NICE adds that if it has not decided by then, you get presumptive eligibility from day 22 until it denies the application in writing. A missing photo, a blank section or an unsigned professional form delays the clock, so check every page before you send it.

Can Able-Ride take me from Nassau into Suffolk?

Sometimes directly. Since July 2023 Able-Ride drives into the Farmingdale and Amityville areas and along Jericho Turnpike in Huntington, near NICE bus routes. For anywhere else in Suffolk you switch to SCAT at the IHOP at 201 Airport Plaza Blvd in Farmingdale or at the Walt Whitman Mall in Huntington, and you pay both fares. Call Able-Ride at 516-228-4000; NICE says its reservationist coordinates the SCAT leg.

Does Able-Ride serve Syosset, Oyster Bay or Bayville?

No. NICE lists seven areas Able-Ride does not serve: Syosset, Bayville, Oyster Bay, Lido Beach, Point Lookout, Locust Valley and Sands Point. It serves only part of Valley Stream, Woodmere, Old Bethpage, Hicksville, Long Beach, Glen Cove, Plainview and Lawrence. Call 516-228-4000 to check a specific address.

Can a caregiver ride with me on Able-Ride or SCAT?

Yes. If your certification allows a personal care attendant, that attendant rides free on Able-Ride, SCAT and HART. Other companions pay the regular fare. Able-Ride and HART guarantee room for at least one companion and take more when there is space. Tell the reservationist about anyone riding with you when you book.

Can I book SCAT for the same day?

No. SCAT takes reservations 1 to 5 days ahead and does not run same-day trips. For a same-day medical trip, Medicaid members can call MAS at 1-844-666-6270, which says urgent and sick visits can be booked the same day, and anyone can book a private ride.