Bus Riders and Stakeholders Present a United Front to Preserve Essential Bus Service on Long Island

This past Monday, January 30, a press conference was held at the Molloy College Suffolk Center in East Farmingdale to share the united voices of Vision Long Island, local elected officials, small business advocates, community leaders, transportation representatives and citizens of Long Island (LI) on the critical issue of inadequate funding for LI’s two public transit systems, Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) and Suffolk County Transit (SCT).

The message: LI’s transit systems need their fair share of funding to sustain and grow NICE and SCT and preserve the essential services they provide for residents who need transportation to work, school, hospitals, LIRR stations, downtown areas and other municipal services. This includes senior citizens, the underprivileged, people with disabilities and more – for people who are most in need. Cuts in SCT routes in late 2016 have impacted eight routes and approximately 500 riders daily, while the proposed cuts for NICE are anticipated to leave approximately 5,400 plus riders without adequate transportation this year if nothing is done.

This coalition of supporters proposes an Emergency Action Plan to Preserve Bus Service. The action plan consists of five recommendations:

  1. Include an emergency appropriation in the NYS budget to stave off cuts in Nassau bus service and restore service cut from Suffolk bus service.

  2. Ensure that ridesharing legislation includes a mandate for a $0.50 surcharge for all rides on LI be directed to the LI bus systems and not the MTA, as was originally proposed.

  3. Pass legislation to redirect a portion of the MTA payroll tax to LI transportation priorities – including NICE and SCT - as previous legislation intended.

  4. Require that any Federal infrastructure dollars secured for the region have funding included for operating and capital budgets for LI bus service.

  5. Conduct reviews of NICE and SCT routes by Nassau and Suffolk County to look for efficiencies and local offsets, if needed, to match State and Federal assistance for continued bus service.

It is important to note that the people who spoke at this conference were a coalition of elected officials and stakeholders from all across Long Island.  Representatives from both Counties as well as numerous Chambers of Commerce, and advocates for bus riders, the elderly, and the impoverished all met in order to agree and speak on this important subject matter.  Ease of access to public transportation has become a vital concern for all Long Islanders, and needs to be addressed at all levels of government.

Vision Long Island