Transit advocates quickly wrote to Judith Jacobs, Nassau County Majority Leader, urging that the legislature avoid cuts to the county bus budget, and use the opportunity of changing the county's tax system to dedicate a small portion of revenue to create a steady level of annual county support for bus service.

The Democrats are likely counting on another state bail-out of the Long Island Bus operating budget (see MTR #265). The $7 million cut they plan for 2002 is equivalent to that proposed last year by County Executive Thomas Gulotta. Long Island Bus said budget reductions at that level would have led to a 40% reduction in service. However, ongoing "emergency" state funding is untenable as a regular feature of Nassau's budget. It could lead other counties or municipalities to clamor for similar treatment, causing chaos for local transit systems around the state.

Meanwhile, Long Island Bus continues to continues to post record ridership numbers ¾ an Oct. 10 release said the agency provided an average of 108,000 passenger trips on Sept., 2000 weekdays, the highest weekday average of any month in Long Island Bus' history.