Planned MTA Express Bus Service Reductions Would Devastate Local Residents’ Commute To Manhattan

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A Joint Statement from Borough President Vito Fossella, Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, District Attorney Michael McMahon, Senator Andrew Lanza, Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, Assemblyman Michael Reilly, Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo, Assemblyman Michael Tannousis, Assemblyman Charles Fall, Councilmember Joe Borelli, Councilmember David Carr, and Councilmember Kamillah Hanks on Potential Upcoming MTA Express Bus Service Reductions
Editor’s note: In reference to the below release, where revenues are mentioned for the tolls collected on just the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge, BP Fossella’s office provided the following clarification: 
“Our estimation of the Verrazzano revenue numbers is not from a document but an estimation reached by taking the average number of daily drivers (~215,000/day as of 2019) and multiplying by an average of the toll ($7 for EZ-Pass, $11 tolls by mail, so about $9), which gets to about $700 million annually. It’s clearly a rough estimate but it is fair to assume it can range from $600 to $800 million.”
Please see the joint letter from Asm. Pirozzolo, BP Fossella, and other elected officials to Governor Hochul requesting that the non-voting board member who attempted to nix plans for updated trains to be delivered to the SIRT be removed from his position, published earlier today.  
The joint statement follows: 
We understand that the MTA may eliminate express bus service for Staten Island residents.
We oppose all efforts to eliminate or reduce services that help Staten Island commuters.
Staten Island is still catching up from decades of shortchanging and neglect for our public transit needs. The last thing the MTA should be doing is reducing services that many hardworking taxpayers need and deserve.
Equally troubling, it was recently suggested by MTA board member Norman Brown that Staten Island should be punished for our opposition to congestion pricing. Our opposition remains unchanged.  Not only do we pay two tolls to enter Manhattan, but also because by the MTA’s own estimation, air quality and traffic would get worse.
It makes no sense for the MTA to tie these decisions to the lost potential revenue from congestion pricing. It seems the MTA already made its mind up about some decisions before Governor Hochul indefinitely postponed the congestion pricing program. For example, the MTA ironically decided months ago that it would not renew the lease for the Meredith Avenue bus depot, and we continue to wait for ways we can improve transit service here.
The MTA appears to be playing games. We know they are losing 2 million dollars each day to fare evasion. Yet, they seem willing to shut down express bus service that is costing less than one million dollars per year.
We also know that they make well over half a billion dollars per year on the Verrazzano Bridge – but we see little return from those profits, either to the bridge or providing services to the Staten Islanders who see so little in return.
Among the stated goals we hear regularly is to “get people out of their cars and to use mass transit.” Ironically, the elimination of express bus service and shutting down the Meredith Avenue bus depot would have the opposite effect.
If the MTA genuinely set its sights on combatting fare evasion – even for half a day – there would be more than enough funding for the expanded express bus program, and then some.
Banner Image: MTA Board Adopts Central Business District Toll Rates. Image Credit – MTA on Flickr

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BP Vito Fossella

The Office of the Borough President has a responsibility to advocate for the entire Borough of Staten Island and all its residents, and represents the Borough's interests within City government. The Borough President communicates directly with the Mayor and the City Council to emphasize Staten Island’s budget priorities. In addition, the Borough President is responsible for reviewing major land use decisions and proposing sites for city facilities within the Borough. As the chair of the Borough Board, the Borough President leads Staten Island’s City Council delegation and Community Board chairs in the process of reviewing and approving the transfer of public properties to private use. The Borough President’s Office houses the Borough's Topographical Bureau, which maintains the borough’s official maps and assigns street addresses. The Borough President monitors the delivery of city services on Staten Island, and acts as a liaison between residents and city agencies when problems arise to devise solutions. The Borough President is also responsible for appointing one member to the Panel for Educational Policy and one member to the City Planning Commission, as well as some 150 members to Staten Island’s three community boards.

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