With the failure of Nassau County and the MTA to reach an agreement to adequately fund Long Island Bus, efforts to save the system have continued to ramp up. This morning, advocates distributed thousands of fliers at major Nassau County transit hubs. The fliers urged bus riders and local businesses to call County Executive Ed Mangano and Gov. Andrew Cuomo and “fight back” against plans to cut 25 of 48 bus routes and 18% of Able-Ride paratransit service. On TSTC’s website, New York residents can sign a petition in support of the system, join a Facebook page to receive further updates, and learn more about the cuts and how to contact the key decisionmakers:

• Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano at (516) 571-3131 or webmangano@nassaucountyny.gov;
• Governor Andrew Cuomo at (518) 474-8390 or through his website;
• State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos at (516) 766-8383 or skelos@nysenate.gov;
• State Senate Transportation Committee Chair Charles Fuschillo at (516)-882-0630 or fuschill@senate.state.ny.us.

Over the weekend, several letters from bus riders were published in Newsday that hint at the impact the cuts will have. One rider, Phyllis Wagner, wrote that:

As one of them, I can say that the overwhelming majority of the riders are low-income workers who keep Nassau County’s economic engine running. They are hospital and nursing home workers, retail store clerks and cashiers (including workers in small local retail establishments, supermarkets and large chain stores), medical and dental office staffs, domestic workers and home health aides. College students comprise the next largest group of bus riders.

Last week, local elected officials implored the county executive and the MTA to come to a deal.  “At the end of the day, the person who’s going to be impacted the most . . . is going to be the person who has to wait for hours for a bus, if it even comes,” County Legislator Kevan Abrahams said at a press conference. An MTA public hearing on the proposed cuts is March 23, and the cuts, if approved, will take place this summer. Bus riders and the businesses that rely on them are running out of time.

Video: Via Newsday.