Politics & Government

Rozic Calls on MTA to Use Surplus to Restore Queens Bus and Subway Service

Assemblywoman says agency should use $40 million increase in funding to restore services cut in 2010.

Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, D-Fresh Meadows, is calling on the Metropolitan Transit Authority to invest its $40 million surplus in restoring Queens subway and bus service.

Last month, it was announced that a deal between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state legislators could increase the MTA’s funding to $358 million. The increase would give the agency $40 million more than expected to put back into its budget. In 2010, the MTA cut $93 million in subway and bus service.

Rozic and members of the advocacy group Riders Alliance are calling on the agency to use the surplus to restore service in Queens.

“Public transportation is vital to the communities of eastern Queens, where most live in a transit desert, having limited access to trains and relying heavily on buses to get to work, school or important appointments,” Rozic said.

The assemblywoman said the MTA’s increased budget resulted primarily from transit-dedicated taxes bringing in more money than expected amid a recovering economy.

“The MTA must realize that now, more than ever, the loss of service continues to impact our community and the MTA must do everything it can to restore and expand service for riders who all depend on it,” she said.

Straphangers and elected officials have called on Cuomo and the MTA to use the surplus to create a Service Restoration and Enhancement Fund, which would restore some of the cuts from 2010 and increase service on existing bus and train lines.

“The MTA needs billions, not millions, to provide sufficient transit service to New Yorkers,” said John Raskin, executive director of Riders Alliance. “But now that there is a little more in the budget than expected, the first priority should be restoring and expanding service for millions of people who rely on MTA buses and trains. Ridership is at its highest level since 1950 and we have to run more buses and trains to catch up.”


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