The Nassau Inter-County Express bus service on Thursday announced that the cost of a ride will increase 25 cents to $2.75.

CEO Michael Setzer says the operator had no choice but to increase its fare, as it must deal with a $7.5 million budget deficit.

NICE is also eliminating nine of its routes and cutting service to one additional route.

Despite the route cuts and fare hike, Setzer says the ABLE ride service will not be affected in any way. He also calls the changes are unfortunate, but says they will only affect just over 1 percent of the bus system's total ridership.