MTA Wants To Cut Rockaway Shuttle Bus Service Prior to A Train Restoration?

Elected Officials Critical Of MTA Plan To Cut Rockaway Shuttle Bus Service

By: NY1 News

[Watch NY1 Video Here]

Elected officials are blasting the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for cutting shuttle bus service to the Rockaways before A train service has been restored to the area.

They rallied to demand the MTA change plans to reduce service by 20 percent during weekdays and 40 percent on weekends.

The buses have been operating in place of the A train, which is still badly damaged months after Hurricane Sandy.

They said the cuts seem especially unfair in light of the MTA's plans to expand train service for weekend trips to the Hamptons.

"If you're working in midtown Manhattan, you better give yourself two to 2 1/2 hours to get to work. If you don't, you're not gonna make it," said State Senator James Sanders Jr. "And now you're saying we're gonna get rid of some of these shuttles because of what?"

"I understand that everybody's struggling," said Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder. "Agencies are struggling. Budgets are tight. But this is a neighborhood that is struggling to recover from Hurricane Sandy, and now is the time where we need to be helping and giving more service instead of cutting it back."

A petition to preserve shuttle bus service is online at saveourshuttle.com.