Rejection the flat but steady funding from Nassau County in recent years, the county legislature has adopted a budget with a $1.4 million cut for Long Island Bus, equaling a 13 percent decrease in its annual budget that will mean service cuts or fare increases are likely on the way, according to transit advocates.
The cut approved was much less than the 27 percent originally proposed, according to an article in Long Island's Newsday, and representatives from groups including the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Vision Long Island, and the Long Island Federation of Labor had lobbied hard against the reductions, according to the paper.
Long Island Bus was the first transit system on the East Coast to run entirely on compressed natural gas rather than diesel, according to the League of Conservation Voters Web site. The system experienced record-breaking ridership at 32.6 million people last year. Funding battles between Nassau County and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the county-owned line, have been ongoing for several years.
County Executive Thomas Suozzi has been quoted as saying he believes Nassau has no business running a bus company, and he has urged the MTA to take over full ownership and control of the agency, according to Newsday.
Read the entire Newsday story at:
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/bus-advocates-push-to-restore-funds-to-heartbeat-of-nassau-1.1532468?print=true
