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Westchester on Regional Bus: Big Potential, Big Concerns

Last Friday, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign and Regional Plan Association held a forum to discuss the creation of a MTA regional bus authority, one of the recommendations in the Ravitch Commission’s report. It was clear that Westchester elected and agency officials saw a lot of potential in regional bus — but had plenty of concerns as well.

Westchester County: We Want MTA Funding, Not MTA Control

As described in the report, the new authority would be “the single entity responsible for bus service in the metropolitan region.” MTA officials have said the new authority could assume full financial responsibility for Long Island Bus, Westchester’s Bee-Line Bus, as well as NYC’s MTA Bus Co. and NYC Transit.

Westchester County took its stance on regional bus early, issuing a press release 20 hours before the event declaring that it would oppose a Bee-Line bus merger. During the first panel, Westchester DOT Commissioner Larry Salley claimed that the public-private partnership that operates Bee-Line is more efficient than the MTA and that consolidation could even affect the county’s ability to evacuate residents during a nuclear incident. However, he said that a regional bus authority could help bolster Bee-Line’s service and ability to plan. “We’re looking for a better source of predictable funding,” Salley said. According to Salley, Bee-Line ridership has increased in the last two years — and so have its operating deficit and Westchester County’s contribution to the system.

Salley also brought up a consistent complaint of Westchester County, which is that Nassau County contributes only $10.5 million annually to Long Island Bus, a system with similar ridership volume and demographics to Bee-Line. Westchester contributed $30 million last year. It must be noted that LI Bus is managed and partially funded by the MTA, which could explain this difference even though the existing funding agreement between Nassau County, the state, and the MTA has its own problems.

Salley said he had been told that the regional bus authority could increase Bee-Line funding without a “takeover.” However, at Wednesday’s State Senate hearing on the Ravitch Commission proposals, Richard Ravitch testified that counties that were not interested in becoming part of the regional bus authority would not receive additional money.

Transport Workers Union Local 100’s secretary/treasurer, Ed Watt, also expressed opposition to a consolidation and said that potential efficiencies like combining NYC Transit and Bee-Line bus depots would have to be negotiated with the union. He agreed that the MTA takeover of NYC’s private bus lines had improved service, but said that the better service was only because the MTA had more money to run the lines.

The Ravitch report recommends fast rollout of bus rapid transit throughout the region as a way to significantly improve service quickly and at relatively low cost. During the second panel, international BRT expert Walter Hook gave an overview of bus rapid transit around the world and Westchester DOT’s Naomi Klein of Westchester DOT described the county’s plan to create a BRT corridor on Central Avenue (previously covered in MTR here and here).

Elected Officials: “Is Local Control Worth $30 Million?”

A panel of elected officials agreed that there were opportunities to improve transit. Mayor Noam Bramson of New Rochelle said that Westchester’s cities had embraced density over the last decade but that connecting transit service was lacking in places. Mayor Mary Foster of Peekskill described how her city had seen an influx of young couples from NYC who are not interested in a multiple-car lifestyle. Mayor Drew Fixell of Tarrytown said simply that, as mayor of a town overrun with Thruway traffic, he supported anything that would remove people from the road. Assm. George Latimer pointed out that Westchester County was a mix of urban, “classic” suburban, and exurban communities with very different transit needs.

Interestingly, multiple members of the panel expressed doubt that the MTA would fund Bee-Line without assuming some form of management control or standardization. The big question, as put by one elected official: Is local control of Bee-Line worth the $30 million county subsidy?

The Future of Regional Bus

Can a suburban bus agency like Bee-Line get funding from a regional bus authority without giving up any local control? Based on Ravitch’s testimony at Wednesday’s hearing, it doesn’t seem that way — but how the regional bus authority operates will be dependent on how it is defined in legislation.

In testimony at the same hearing, Tri-State executive director Kate Slevin noted that the major improvements in region-wide bus service envisioned in the Ravitch report could only occur if East and Harlem River bridge tolls (or some alternative raising the same amount of money) were passed along with the payroll tax. For residents of Westchester and Nassau Counties, passing the Ravitch plan would not only prevent MTA service cuts and reduce fare increases, it would also “put suburban carriers on a more stable financial footing and allow them to keep pace with rising demand and provide more intercounty service.”

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Lawrence C. Salley
Lawrence C. Salley
15 years ago

You still don’t get it. You selectively quote Mr Ravitch’s comment that we can’t receive funding from the RBA, unless we participate in the RBA which is true. Westchester is certainly interested in participating in the RBA as a way of gaining propertty tax relief for our residents. What we are not interested in is the MTA operating our system, and there is nothing in the Ravitch Report, or in any comment that he has made that requires it. You should check your facts with Chris Gilchrist in the Govenor’s office who oversaw the staff work to the Commishion.

James
James
15 years ago

I was at the event. Props to the TSTC panelist for pushing back on Westchester DOT’s chief and his claims that the Bee-Line bus fleet is energy efficient – having clean buses “on order” is not the same as having them in operation, and it’s ludicrous to think that Bee-Line could access the Ravitch funds while still remaining completely autonomous. As a NYC resident and frequent transit user, the chief’s claims that the buses are superior to those of NYC Transit are equally ludicrous. IMO, a lot of the anti-consolidation sentiment stems from fear of having to bring the Bee-Line up to something closer to NYC Transit’s level of service. The system just does not serve its riders as well as it should, given that many areas of Westchester are as densely developed as the Bronx as thus demand a similar level of service for users.

Great job on the event and keep it up.

Kate Slevin
15 years ago

Thanks for the comments, Larry, and for your participation on the panel.

We are just quoting what Richard Ravitch said at a public hearing last week. He said, “you have to participate in the RBA to get the RBA money.” He said Westchester doesn’t want to participate and Nassau does. Participate means giving up local control. It was very clear.

If there is another way to achieve improvements for bus riders, great, we are all for it. At the moment, however, it seems like you may be passing up an important opportunity to give your taxpayers a break and secure more funding for your bus system.

Mike Heller
Mike Heller
14 years ago

This who issue of local control of Westchester buses is ridiculous. The borough presidents, who are legacy county executives have no local control. I’m wondering if this has more to do with people working for the Westchester county executive keeping their jobs, or keeping Liberty Lines owners happy. Salley — everyone recognizes your good work you would be likely become an exec within the MTA system and keep your pension, so drop your opposition. Liberty has one big, nicely run depot that could easily be transferred, and smaller private depots would go as well. The bus operators would be covered under the Taylor law, which is in the public interest. Having one big county hanging on their own makes no sense in terms of public policy.

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[…] could Astorino’s support for government consolidation mean a shift in the county’s opposition to regional bus? Nassau executive challenger Ed Mangano has said little about transportation, but like incumbent […]

CARLOS
CARLOS
14 years ago

IN THE FUTURE OF ANOTHER STRIKE OF BEE-LINE BUSES JUST LIKE IT HAPPENED 3-4 YEARS AGO IT ONLY TOOK 6 WEEKS TO RENEW A CONTRACT AT THAT TIME. NOW WE HAVE A NEW CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF THE MTA AND PROMISED TO OVERHAUL THE MTA SYSTEM IF THERE WAS ANOTHER STRIKE ON BEE-LINE BUSES AND LASTS MORE THAN A MONTH I THINK THE BEST SOLUTION IS A TAKEOVER BY THE MTA AND THE BRAND SHOULD BE CALL “MTA METRO NORTH BUS” AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST IT WOULD BENEFIT THE CUSTOMERS JUST LIKE THE TAKEOVER OF THE 7 PRIVATE BUS LINES BACK IN 2005.

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[…] Tri-State Transportation Campaign and Regional Plan Association are following up on the successful Westchester County regional bus forum and holding a forum on how regional bus would affect Nassau County on March 6 at 8:30 am, at […]

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