October 5, 2006

Jacobs announces $300,000 in funding for L.I. Bus ridership study

Nassau County Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs (Woodbury) today joined with Legislator dave Denenberg (D-Merrick) and Long Island Bus President Neil Yellin to announce the Majority Caucus’ plan to include $300,000 in the 2007 proposed budget to fund a study of L. I. Bus to study future transportation patterns. According to Jacobs, ridership has increased in recent years, and funding has remained stagnant.

“If we are to keep ahead of the curve and provide Nassau County residents with transportation services they need, we need to make a commitment to the riders of Long Island Bus,” she said. “We intend to find a way to accomplish that in the 2007 budget and beyond.”

According to the State Transportation Campaign, ridership numbers from the first half of 2006 show a 5% increase from the same period in 2005. Last year the system saw a 3% increase over 2004. Higher gas prices and a stronger economy will only push ridership further up. Overall, Long Island Bus ridership was up 22% between 1996 and 2005.

“Nassau’s demographics are changing,” said Legislator Denenberg. “There are just not enough regularly scheduled buses out there.”

"Long Island Bus ridership continues to reach record levels," stated Yellin. "The study represents a major step forward to identify methods forprovidingtheresourcesrequired to meet the growing demands for public transit in Nassau."

“We hope that this money leads to tangible service increases for the thousands of people that ride Long Island Bus every day,” said Kate Slevin, associate director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. “This money is just the beginning— Long Island Bus needs much more funding if it is going to keep pace with skyrocketing ridership.”