Westchester County’s Bee-Line bus system is looking to cut or eliminate service on 44 routes to eliminate a $1.6 million budget gap. County officials say the problem is continually escalating costs of running bus service coupled with inadequate state operating aid.

Last year, Westchester Bus riders saw steep fare increases, but no improvement in services. Now they face the prospect of paying the higher fares for drastically reduced service.

The following is a list of routes slated for cuts published by the Westchester transportation department. About 25 transit routes would be entirely eliminated, as would nine shuttles that connect the White Plains train station to office sites:

The Journal News reported last week that the cuts will affect seven thousand daily riders. Riders in Westchester say existing service is infrequent and generally poor. The threatened cuts may well send the system into a death spiral of declining ridership and revenue. A public hearing on the cuts will be held February 10^th (see calendar). 

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