Groups Oppose Potential L.I. Bus Funding Cut
The news is coming out hot & heavy regarding the MTA’s potential plan to cut funding to the often neglected Long Island Bus system due to its budget crisis.
This has led to war of words mainly coming from clueless Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano who rather play the “Blame The MTA” game instead of owning up to his county’s inadequate & downright shameless funding for the service over the years.
The Tri-State Transportation Campaign even joined into the fray by worrying about the future of the service. However the borough of Staten Island did not want to be left out as Borough President Jim Molinaro opined bluntly with this statement:
“Staten Island residents are tired of paying to move these commuters.
Late Friday, a coalition of groups joined in to oppose the much maligned transit agency’s potential funding cut. Alfonso A. Castillo of Newsday has more:
A coalition of civic, transportation, business, labor, planning and environmental groups is opposing the MTA’s plan to pull its funding from Long Island Bus.
In a statement issued Friday, the coalition said the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s plan to withdraw about $40 million in funding from the Nassau County-owned bus company is misguided and a “system killer.”
“The MTA’s proposed cuts will obliterate the LI Bus system as we know it,” said Kate Slevin, executive director of the nonprofit Tri-State Transportation Campaign, which supports bus service. “These cuts could very well mean that Nassau County will not have a viable bus transit system as soon as the next few years.”
Click here for the complete report.
This will be a hotly contested battle throughout. At this rate who knows exactly what will happen to the service. If I had to venture a guess, things are looking bleak for L.I. Bus riders unless some typical gamesmanship occurs & the county finds more money for it before time elapses. Of course they will look like heroes when in reality, they would finally be doing what should have been done since day 1!
xoxo Transit Blogger
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment