Mineola,
NY—Bus
riders and advocates spoke out against bus
cuts to vital social services and health
centers, which will take place on Easter
Sunday.
The
Long Island Bus Riders’ Union
highlighted that service to the United
Cerebral Palsy Center, the Nassau County
Department of Health, the New
Cassel/Westbury and Freeport-Roosevelt
Health Centers, and the Nassau County
Department of Social Service will be cut on
many lines.
Additionally,
the Union complained that the announcements
of service adjustments on the website were
very unclear; and that riders were confused
about how exactly their routes will be
impacted.
“When
we talk to riders, they have no idea that
service changes are even happening, or they
can’t understand the website. NICE
needs to get on the buses and into the
community, talk to riders, hand out
schedules, and be more transparent so riders
know what’s happening,” said
Charlene Obernauer, Executive Director of
Long Island Jobs with Justice.
With
a service adjustment plan that will decrease
service on 60% of all routes, and weekend
and off-peak service cuts equaling a nearly
25% cut in service hours on certain routes;
NICE needs to better communicate with bus
riders, especially those who will no longer
have access to social services and health
centers.
“Many
of the NICE bus service cuts appear to be in
low income communities where more people
rely on buses to get to work and to access
the few available health care centers that
serve their needs. Reducing bus service
could lead to unintentional costs for Nassau
County if people lose access to employment,
or if cuts force more people to use hospital
emergency rooms for their health care.
Unfortunately, the lack of available
information makes it very difficult or
impossible to evaluate the full economic
consequences of the cuts,” said Dr.
Niev Duffy of the Center for Social Policy
and Community Engagement at SUNY Old
Westbury.
The
Union pointed out that cutting midday and
weekend service on the N16, N45, and N51
will hurt students and workers who do not
work or go to school on typical hours.
“Students
have varied schedules, and cutting service
in the middle of the day is going to hurt
those of us who have morning classes and
then go to work or home to our
families,” said Christen Rieger, a
Sophomore at Nassau Community College.
Finally,
the Union urged Veolia Transportation to
bring these service cuts to a vote on the
Nassau County Transit Advisory Committee;
and once again demanded that the Company
release ridership data to show how many
people will be impacted.
“The
complete disregard with how these changes
are going to impact riders, particularly
those who regularly utilize social services,
is worrisome,” concluded Obernauer.