The failure of Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and MTA Chairman Jay Walder to arrive at a funding deal for LI Bus has led to a bleak scenario for riders. The MTA unveiled its proposed cuts to the system yesterday, and the news is bad:

• Twenty-five of 48 routes would be eliminated entirely and weekend service cut from two routes.
• Nearly 16,000 riders would be left without a transit option and 18% of Able-Ride users stripped of access to transportation.
• Two hundred LI Bus employees would be laid off — and an untold number of riders could lose their jobs due to lack of access to transportation, which in turn would negatively impact Long Island businesses.

Mangano has refused to increase Nassau County’s contribution to LI Bus even though it is the only suburban county to receive MTA funding for its bus system, and its contribution to the system is at historic lows. Walder has declined to phase out LI Bus funding gradually, insisting on an overnight cut. With these central parties seemingly too stubborn to budge in their fight over LI Bus funding, Tri-State has been calling on Governor Cuomo and State Senators Dean Skelos and Charles Fuschillo to mediate a deal or come to riders’ aid.

In testimony at last week’s MTA Board meeting, Tri-State said as much publicly and reiterated this message on our new “Save Long Island Bus” Facebook page. Join the page to learn about future advocacy efforts, and call County Executive Mangano, State Senators Skelos and Fuschillo, and Governor Cuomo to urge them to support LI Bus and its riders.

A public hearing on the proposed halving of the system will take place on March 23 at 3 pm at Hofstra University’s Adams Playhouse.

Image: Right – TSTC.