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While I usually dont like posting videos here, I feel how Nassau County is treating LI Bus is a disgrace. How come Suffolk can fund it's bus system at the tune of 30 million a year, but Nassau only 8 million?
My report below.
I commend you! I hope this will open a lot of eyes, make more people aware of this situation and to put enough pressure on Suozzi and all the others to do the right thing.
It's insane that Suffolk Co (where getting around is harder via bus) kicks in more money while Nassau pitches in pennies. I pray that things will be resolved before June arrives as this is going to be very ugly.
I hope this will open a lot of eyes, make more people aware of this situation and to put enough pressure on Suozzi and all the others to do the right thing.
I know a lot of people who don't directly use the buses will be on Suozzi's side for his shameless lack of funding for LI Bus. However, this affects more of us than one thinks. How about the senior citizen who does not drive anymore, but nonetheless needs to get places once in awhile like the doctor's office? How about the senior citizen who is relying on home health aides to assist him/her whose aides mostly rely on bus transportation because they cannot afford a car? How about the small business owners who cannot afford to pay much more above minimum wage for their employees, who in turn cannot afford a car, and must take the bus? How about the person whose car is in the repair shop who needs to take the bus to get to work? The bus is a lifeline to many and should occupy a respected line in the County's budget, as it does in our neighbors of Suffolk, Westchester, and New York City. Anyone who thinks it "should be" self-supporting, please tell me this ... do you know ANY public transportation system that is self-supporting? Even the U.S. Postal Service is not 100% self-supporting. Should we abolish it because of that? No, you will say, because it is necessary. The same thing with LI Bus, which is the only major intra-county transportation system in Nassau.
lets not forget the teens that dont drive because they are too young and need to get to work. Ive taken the bus as a teen for many years to get to work because I didnt drive.
So in addition to higher fare, metrocards will not be accepted, so it will be ridiculously inconvenient.
There are so many Long Islanders who take the LI buses to the trains, so it will be more expensive and more inconvenient.
And the train station areas are already swamped with cars from folks who drive in to the trains.
There are also, for instance, folks in Queens who ride LI buses to get to work in Long Island, not to mention people from other boroughs who need to take the trains to Queens and then buses to LI. There are students who will pay a fortune to get to Nassau Community College and those who use the buses to get to Roosevelt Field.
I guess those Long Islanders who depend on public transportation to get to work daily will fare worse, but it will have a domino effect in several other areas.
That's a da-mm shame.
Last edited by DonnaReed; 03-30-2009 at 10:15 AM..
I know a lot of people who don't directly use the buses will be on Suozzi's side for his shameless lack of funding for LI Bus. However, this affects more of us than one thinks. How about the senior citizen who does not drive anymore, but nonetheless needs to get places once in awhile like the doctor's office? How about the senior citizen who is relying on home health aides to assist him/her whose aides mostly rely on bus transportation because they cannot afford a car? How about the small business owners who cannot afford to pay much more above minimum wage for their employees, who in turn cannot afford a car, and must take the bus? How about the person whose car is in the repair shop who needs to take the bus to get to work? The bus is a lifeline to many and should occupy a respected line in the County's budget, as it does in our neighbors of Suffolk, Westchester, and New York City. Anyone who thinks it "should be" self-supporting, please tell me this ... do you know ANY public transportation system that is self-supporting? Even the U.S. Postal Service is not 100% self-supporting. Should we abolish it because of that? No, you will say, because it is necessary. The same thing with LI Bus, which is the only major intra-county transportation system in Nassau.
Honestly, I believe it's more of the "Well, if they REALLY need to take the bus, they will pay whatever..." thinking. Also, there's some sort of justification, like no matter how high the price for LI Bus, that on the grand scheme of things it's a good deal; especially for folks travelling long distances. What the officials fail to realise is there are many who struggle to scrape for the Metrocard money as is. Like you mentioned, folks rely on buses to not only get to and from work, but also to the grocery store and on other errands. To visit family.
Not to get off topic, but I had posted a thread about Suozzi wanting to cut back Early Intervention Programs for children with disabilities. I am sorry to say, but if he is willing to do something this disgraceful, I can't see him taking any action on the busing situation.
While I usually dont like posting videos here, I feel how Nassau County is treating LI Bus is a disgrace. How come Suffolk can fund it's bus system at the tune of 30 million a year, but Nassau only 8 million?
My report below.
Okay I finally got a chance to watch it (uninterrupted). One thing you didn't address is all the senior citizens who rely on home health aides in order to stay independent and continue to live in their own homes. I would guess that most home health aides on LI are LI Bus riders because the pay is very low. Why don't you try and get some seniors riled up too with the possibility of no longer having their home health aides or the possibility of having to pay MORE for the home health aides due to the increased fare? Maybe if you can get some crabby, grizzled old seniors to call Suozzi and yell at him it would help, as seniors are known to have a high percentage of voters!
I think if there must be a fare increase, Long Island Bus should stay the same as NYC transit and the Unlimited Metrocard should work for both of them as they do now.
PS: If you want to shoot some amazing film for your next video of LONG, LONG, LONG lines of easily 150 people waiting for the bus, come to the first LI Bus stop for the N4 in Jamaica weekdays between 6:30pm and 7:00pm. Not enough buses and when one bus is running late (as typically happens) all hell breaks loose with the lines ... people cutting the line ... people fighting over cutting the line ... forming a second line in anticipation of a second bus arriving at the same time, etc. It's crazy!
I just can't fathom how they can raise the bus fare to $3.50!!! This borders on criminal!!
This increase means that a person who needs to go to work will be paying $7/day or more --- and most people who take the bus to/from work aren't working in decent-paying jobs.
I wish the news would do a story like this ---- John, send this video to News 12 or ABC or Fox-5. Something needs to be done for the bus riders!
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