The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is proposing service reductions to Long Island Bus and Able-Ride that could impact half of the bus lines in Nassau County.
Long Island Bus currently operates like a private bus service through a contract with Nassau County, which expects a $24 million budget shortfall this year for the service.
“Unlike other counties, Nassau County has for the past decade refused to fund the full amount necessary to operate the services provided by Long Island Bus after fares and state grants are collected,” the MTA said in a statement.
“While in the past the MTA filled funding gaps caused by Nassau County's under funding—contributing over $140 million since 2000 to subsidize Nassau County's local bus service—today, given the MTA's fragile fiscal condition, we can no longer afford to do so,” the transit provider stated.
Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said the county will explore the option of privatizing the service but cannot afford to increase its subsidy. “It’s shameful that the MTA once again plans to eliminate service for our disabled and most vulnerable residents,” Mangano said in a statement.
“Privatizing the operation of Long Island Bus makes sense for taxpayers. Residents will finally have accountability for their tax dollars. The private sector will run bus service more efficiently and effectively while not holding our taxpayers hostage for increased revenue year after year,” Mangano added.
The MTA said the cuts would impact 27 of 48 routes, affecting 15 percent of local bus riders. Cuts to fixed-route service will also lead to cuts in paratransit service. Public transit providers are required to offer paratransit service within three-quarters of a mile of bus and train stops, or fixed-route stations. When those stations are eliminated in Nassau County, the Able-Ride service around it will also be cut, the MTA said.
Therese Brzezinski, director of advocacy and community policy at the Long Island Center for Independent Living, said, “This is going to be a situation where people are not going to be able to meet their basic needs. People depend on Able-Ride to get the supermarket and to get to the pharmacy and there are issues of employment and education. All of these restrictions are going to prohibit individuals from contributing to the national economy.”
Brzezinski called the potential privatization of Long Island Bus unacceptable. She noted that these cuts follow another round of reductions last year that stranded many former paratransit customers in Nassau County who live more than three-quarters of a mile from a mass transit station.
“This is going to leave many, many people without a way to travel and to meet the needs of their daily life and it’s really disappointing that our county leadership is unable and apparently unwilling to find a reasonable solution for what is granted a major problem,” Brzezinski said.
A public hearing on the proposed cuts will take place at Hofstra University starting at 3 p.m. March 23. Speakers must register to testify by 9 p.m.
Published in the April 2011 issue of Able News.
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