Today, State Senators Dean Skelos, Charles Fuschillo, Jack Martins, and the rest of the Nassau County Republican delegation announced that they had brokered a deal between the MTA and Nassau County to preserve Long Island Bus at existing service levels through the end of the year with “$8.6 million in MTA monies” before the county moves to a privatized system in 2012.
The Tri-State Transportation Campaign released the following statement in response:
Today’s agreement to preserve Long Island Bus through 2011 is fantastic news for bus riders and the businesses which rely on them. Senators Skelos, Fuschillo, and Martins have shown what real leadership looks like.
Over the coming months, Nassau County will have to show the same type of leadership. The deal gives Nassau County Executive Mangano more time to come up with a workable proposal for a local transit system. None of the privatization schemes released by the county so far appear to qualify. Affordable transit that maintains access to jobs, education, and social services is critical to the county’s economy and quality of life.
(P.S.: No, this is not an April Fool’s Day joke.)
[…] Tr-State Transportation Campaign has more information on the deal, including a statement here. Filed under: Campaign Blog Tags: new york, new york times, transit, transit […]
[…] workers and businesses. A week ago, State Senators Dean Skelos, Chuck Fuschillo and Jack Martins showed incredible leadership by increasing state funding for the system by $8.6 million, preventing proposed cuts through the […]
[…] the loss of half the system’s routes this summer. Long Island’s State Senate delegation stepped in to make sure service would keep running through the rest of the […]
[…] York State Senator Fuschillo (R-Merrick)—Once again, Senator Fuschillo comes to the aid of transit riders. A bill introduced by the Senator, which […]
[…] at our upcoming benefit for his efforts on this key piece of legislation and his leadership in keeping Long Island Bus solvent through the rest of […]