Editorial: Bus-contract hearing a charade
Passengers board the N27 Long Island Bus at the Rosa Parks Bus Depot in Hempstead (Nov. 17, 2010). Credit: Kevin P Coughlin
Let the lines begin to form. The time has (finally) come for public comment on the privatization of Long Island Bus and the contract with Veolia Transportation, which is slated to go into effect on Jan. 1. The hearing will be 1 p.m. Monday at the county legislative building in Mineola, in time to satisfy the legal requirement without actually allowing meaningful input.
For decades the buses in Nassau have been run, and subsidized, by the MTA. When the MTA said it could no longer help pay for the buses, Nassau Executive Edward Mangano chose a private firm to run them.
This forum should have been a chance for residents to air concerns about possible fare hikes and service cuts that legislators could then mull and address. It will be anything but that, as the actual votes to transfer the service are also on Monday's agenda.
