Bronx Residents To Rally Against Service Cuts
The countdown to the massive service cuts inches closer & closer with each passing day. With that in mind, Bronx residents are using their right to speak out as they plan on holding a rally against the cuts at a town hall meeting tonight. Mike Jaccarino & Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News have more in this brief report:
Angry Bronxites are joining riders and transit workers across the nation to protest planned service cuts to mass transit systems.
The cash-strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority is planning to eliminate two Bronx bus lines and curtail service on a raft of other routes.
“We understand there has to be some cuts, but the cuts they’ve made are horrendous,” said Co-op City resident Al Quattlebaum, who rides the Bx26. Its route is being modified so it will no longer serve Section 5 of Co-op City.
“You have seniors that rely on these buses to go to the hospitals and doctor’s appointments,” he said. “To eliminate these services is unacceptable.”
Bronxites plan to rally at a town hall meeting at the Bartow Community Center Thursday at 7:30 p.m. A May 4 rally is also set for City Hall.
Quattlebaum said emotions are running so high in Co-op City that he expects up to 600 people to turn out for the rally.
Click here for the complete report.
I applaud the residents for speaking out. However I doubt it will do much good. The agency went through a tough process in coming up with cuts that would hurt as few riders as possible. Some of the cuts seem legitimate when you factor in actual ridership numbers. Unfortunately in the financial world that the MTA lives in, it can’t be expected to provide service that matches the needs of every single rider.
It is safe to assume that a high percentage of the frustration to come from tonight’s meeting will be directed at the beleaguered transit agency itself. However the real complaints should be directed towards the elected officials on the city & state level who continue to shortchange the agency in terms of proper funding.
I am curious as to which elected officials will show up to join in the complaint parade when in reality they probably do little to help their riding constituents. We all know how the game works by now. When it is convenient to attack the MTA & gain brownie points with constituents, you do just that. it is a shame that so much time is wasted doing that instead of helping come up with sustainable funding solutions.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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