On Wednesday, Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano released the 2011 County Budget, the first of his tenure. Unfortunately, it was more of the same for LI Bus riders.

The County’s proposal to maintain its contribution at $9.1 million keeps County funding of LI Bus at its lowest point in seven years.  This failure to increase funding was done despite assurances from County officials that there would be a marginal increase as an act of good faith as they negotiate with the MTA, which is proposing to eliminate its entire $26 million contribution to LI Bus.

In a statement TSTC called the County’s inclusion of only $9.1 million, in a proposed budget of over $2.8 billion, “short of what is needed for robust transit service” in Nassau County.

The broken assurances of increased funding are disappointing, and point to the general failure of the County and the MTA to seriously negotiate a funding agreement.  The County’s negotiating tactics, like suing the MTA over the payroll tax and calling for MTA Chairman Jay Walder’s resignation, have only poisoned the well and potentially put LI Bus riders in greater danger of losing a transit lifeline.  The failure of the MTA to move from its hardline position is not helping either.

At a bus rider rally and the MTA hearings last night, bus riders and groups like TSTC, Vision Long Island, New York Communities for Change, the Long Island Federation of Labor, Long Island Progressive Coalition and Sustainable Long Island called for an end to the games and for the County and MTA to sit down and work together to find a sustainable solution for LI Bus riders.

In addition, Nassau County Legislators Dave Denenberg, Wayne Wink, Judy Jacobs, and Robert Troiano (the rally organizer) called upon the MTA to withhold any funding cuts until the results of a regional bus study, currently funded in the MTA’s capital program, are known and for the State Legislature to reinstate the $143 million state officials took from dedicated transit revenues in December 2009.

Photo: TSTC.