The Bronx News reported last week that the Bloomberg administration expects to have an outline of a plan for MTA takeover of city-funded private bus lines at the end of June, rather than a final plan ready for implementation.

Transit advocates support the consolidation of the city-franchised lines with NYC Transit’s bus operations, but fear that the city’s determination to withdraw financial support from the buses will result in further budget pressure on the MTA and service cuts for riders using the now-private lines.

A city hall spokesperson said the city had been engaged in ongoing discussions with the MTA and the private lines. He told the paper that the issue of how to subsidize the routes’ operations was still unresolved. Transport Workers Union Local 100 has filed a grievance saying it has been excluded from the negotiations. Some of the issues to be resolved involve the contracts for the workers at the private bus companies. 

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