A quick reminder that an MTA public hearing on Long Island Bus will start at 3 pm today in Hofstra University’s Adams Playhouse, and run through to 9 pm. The hearing will cover proposed cuts to 25 of LI Bus’s 48 routes and the Able-Ride paratransit system for the elderly and disabled, as well as the possibility that Nassau County will end its relationship with the MTA, slash county funding to virtually nothing, and turn the bus system over to a private operator.

Bus riders, transit workers, and advocates will rally before the hearing. Participants should meet outside Adams Playhouse at 2:45 (the rally may then move indoors due to the weather).

Testifying at the MTA board meeting this morning, Tri-State’s Veronica Vanterpool called on Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano to “get serious about the transportation crisis facing his constituents” and fund the bus system. If the MTA approves the cuts and County Executive Mangano continues to stay away from the negotiating table, the cuts will take place this summer. MTR will have more on this afternoon’s hearing tomorrow.