Last week, Nassau and Suffolk state legislative delegations sent a letter to Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials requesting more information on the proposed MTA restructuring. The restructuring — which would place LIRR and Metro North under one large umbrella "MTA Rail Road" agency and absorb Long Island Bus into the NYC Transit bus division — was announced last November. But the Long Island officials complain they have not been given any further information about what the merger will mean for the LIRR. The MTA says the rail merger will save it $30 million annually.

The Long Island lawmakers’ concerns may point to a rough road for the MTA reorganization plan, because it must be approved by the state legislature. The legislators were already angered by what they viewed as inadequate efforts by the MTA to keep LIRR president Ken Bauer aboard. Bauer was well-liked, but announced his resignation earlier this month.

The letter was sent from the office of Senator Dean Skelos, Deputy Majority Leader of the State Senate and Senate representative to the MTA Capital Program Review Board, and was signed by the entire state legislative delegation from Nassau and Suffolk Counties. It acknowledged the "MTA’s desire to augment efficiency and alleviate the pressures places on fares and other revenues" but indicated that "the absence of detailed and comprehensive programming information has tainted this proposal with uncertainty and doubt." It asked that the MTA provide Nassau and Suffolk representatives with "substantive information necessary to properly evaluate this proposed reorganization" and expressed concern over possible negative impacts on train service.

Senator Skelos told Newsday in a Jan. 31st article that "We (the legislative delegation) don’t want to be lost in the shuffling around."

Senator Skelos also recently asked the MTA to schedule separate fare increase hearings in Nassau County for LIRR and LI Bus issues. He argued that at a joint hearing, Long Island Bus issues, which are very distinct from those of the LIRR, would tend to be subsumed and receive less attention. However, the MTA has refused to schedule an additional hearing.

Hearings on MTA fare increases continue for the next two weeks (link to Calendar on left). 

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