Long Island bus riders are wary

The proposed draconian cuts being made by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to Long Island Bus service ["Officials plead for bus riders," News, March 8], and the refusal by Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano to fund the bus system, are a show of disrespect and will devastate the lives of the more than 100,000 residents, workers and students who ride the bus daily.

As one of them, I can say that the overwhelming majority of the riders are low-income workers who keep Nassau County's economic engine running. They are hospital and nursing home workers, retail store clerks and cashiers (including workers in small local retail establishments, supermarkets and large chain stores), medical and dental office staffs, domestic workers and home health aides.

College students comprise the next largest group of bus riders. The college bus routes are not being cut, but the students often transfer from other buses.

Mangano wants to balance his budget on the backs of Long Island Bus riders, probably because he thinks we do not vote. He is wrong.

Phyllis Wagner

Long Beach
 

The cuts to the public bus system only serve to highlight the need to pursue former Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi's concept of "cool downtowns." Clustering housing in and around business districts in our towns and villages would provide a better match between jobs, transportation and housing.

Upon looking at the new bus map and noting the lines that will disappear, I was shocked to see that an entire patch of Nassau County in the Massapequa area will be mostly unserved.

Jean Brett-Leach

Rockville Centre
 

I wonder who chose which bus routes to close? Was it accidental that many routes through poor or minority neighborhoods were canceled?

The denial of access to jobs, health care and schooling should be critically examined. I thought we were against raising ghetto walls.

Salvatore Spizzirri

Amityville
 

I have ridden the N31/N32 route for 24 years. I can tell you that the loss of even one bus during the morning and evening rush hour leads to overcrowded buses and many riders left at bus stops. I suspect that the same holds true for other bus routes.

If Long Island Bus riders are forced to use cars, your traffic headaches will only get worse.

We are all paying a payroll tax to the MTA, and instead of getting better service, we get more threats about cuts to service. Well, I cannot affect what the MTA does, but I have a vote on Election Day. If the service cuts become a reality, then every incumbent who has some control over this situation will lose my vote.

Charles R. Cronin Jr.

Lawrence