News reports are confirming the worst fears of Long Island transit advocates: that the MTA may cut all of its funding for Long Island Bus, decimating the system. According to yesterday’s Newsday, the MTA has the cut on a list of budget proposals to be unveiled on Monday. The $40 million reduction would equal a third of the Long Island Bus budget.
The move would be the latest in a series impacting Long Island bus riders. Nassau County cut $1.6 million in this year’s budget and County Executive Ed Mangano has failed to plug the gap or address Long Island Bus’ long-term funding challenges. The county’s cuts, coupled with those from the state and MTA, forced elimination of 11 bus lines and reduced service on eight other lines last month.
County Executive Mangano’s only public response to the news was to blame the MTA and criticize the payroll tax approved last year to help fund transit. Hopefully, his response was a one-time misstep; it was certainly very different from the tone he took during last year’s campaign, when he said “mass transit has to be an integral part of the County’s plans… the [LI Bus] subsidy is small compared to the number of people who rely on public transit to get to work, make a living, support their families, and put that money back into the local economy.” Ultimately, cooperation between Mangano, the MTA, and the state will be the only way to save the bus system.
Such cooperation may be possible if today’s Newsday reports are to be believed. The MTA has floated the prospect of slowly phasing out its contribution to LI Bus, rather than abruptly cutting it, if Nassau County shows a commitment to increasing its contribution to the system. The county is paying $9.1 million into the system this year, far less than the state and MTA and less than it has in previous years. Because there is no long-term agreement between the three parties on how much each should contribute to LI Bus, there are near-annual squabbles over funding levels. But the stakes have rarely been as high as they are now.
[Update 7/22: County Executive Mangano is reportedly exploring whether LI Bus can be privatized.]
Many bus riders interviewed by local TV stations were at a loss when asked how they would get around without transit service. Will Nassau County, or anyone else, step up to the plate?
Photo: Via New York Times.
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The payroll tax would have made a difference here — if it had been delivered to the MTA instead of stolen to plug general fund gaps by the legislature. There’s no sense in getting angry at the MTA or the tax, but instead with dysfunctional Albany politics.
http://www.streetsblog.org/2010/03/09/albany-didnt-cut-the-mta-budget-they-stole-from-it/
Westchester and Suffolk Counties do most of the heavy lifting for their local bus systems, it is time that Nassau Co. took on some of this responsibilty, too.
New Meaning to the Term “Bus Stop”
The big issue here is sustainability – and the economics of class. The LIRR is designed and scheduled primarily to bring commuters to and from Manhattan to work. These are professionals, executives, administrators, consultants, entrepreneurs. The bus brings hourly working people to their jobs around Long Island. These are laborers, largely unskilled. They staff hospitals, nursing homes, schools, factories. They don;t earn enough to afford automobile upkeep. Ending bus service will drive up the cost of staffing these non-professional jobs, as employers must pay more so workers can buy cars to get to work. This move won’t save money, it will cost money.
– Warren Strugatch, Long Island Examiner business commentator
Full article here http://tinyurl.com/2dmm7e2
The bus system will probably disappear when the Nassau Subway opens. It is currently in the AA stage of development, with an EIS just on the horizon
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[…] transit, especially for bus riders. Nassau County’s Long Island Bus is facing cuts that could destroy the system. Westchester’s Bee-Line Bus just cut service. A new funding agreement between the counties, MTA […]