A coalition of rider, business, labor, planning, civic and transportation advocates and elected officials rallied in Hauppage today in support of a resolution filed last week by Legislator Jay Schneiderman and co-sponsored by Legislator Al Krupski that would require $2.01 million in new and additional State Transit Operating Assistance (STOA) funds be applied to Suffolk County Transit (SCT) for Sunday service expansion. The resolution is expected to be introduced in the Public Works and Transportation Committee on April 23.

Last year, an additional $1.5 million subsidy from a one-year redistribution of the Long Lines and Transmission Tax (in tandem with $1 million in added revenue generated from May 2012 fare increases) that advocates hoped would have been applied toward providing Sunday bus service, was instead re-purposed elsewhere in the County budget. This sweep served as the impetus for the resolution.

Currently, Sunday service only exists on two East End routes between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Advocates say a broader expansion of service on Sundays would be a boon for riders, businesses and local economic development in the County:

“Life on Long Island does not come to a halt on weekends. Neither should Suffolk County Transit. As we Long Islanders shop, pray, work and enjoy the many recreational treasures of our communities it makes perfect sense to include seven-day-a-week public transportation opportunities to the residents of Long Island,” said Michael DeLuise, President of the Melville Chamber of Commerce.

The time for debate about the need for Sunday bus service in Suffolk is over, and County leaders must not squander this opportunity to move SCT toward seven-day-a-week service.