Someone Make a Bee Line to Kevin Plunkett: Myers on Saving Bus #76
If you take the Bee Line Bus Route #76, you won't be screwed until June 21st, according to County Legislator Judy Myers (phone 914-995-2802).
MyRye.com had reported an April 5th date shut down date on Tuesday when we wrote about the planned shut down. The bus route carries an estimated 225 passengers per day at an annual cost of $242,114, according to Myers.
Lawrence Salley, Commissioner of the Westchester Department of Transportation (phone 914-813-7715) is scheduled to meet with the County Executive's office today to discuss an alternative to cutting this service. Now Salley is the same guy that sent the letter notifying Port Chester-Rye Transit, Inc. (AKA County Coach), the operator of Route 76, that the service was being nuked, so we don't get it… We are guessing he won't be taking the bus to the meeting..
Myers says she is on the case: "we're working on this as we speak! The county DOT is working with the administration to see if there might be another way to cut spending and NOT cut this route…. my understanding is that it [the closure] impacts Port Chester residents who work in Rye and Rye seniors who are without cars."
Why doesn't Myers or someone get on the horn to former Rye Corporation Counsel Kevin Plunkett who as of January 1st works as Deputy Westchester County Executive for Rob Astorino? And isn't it interesting that, according to Wikipedia, all Westchester Bee Line bus routes are run by Liberty Lines with the exception of only four lines including Route 76 which is the single line operated by County Coach. Is someone picking on the little guy?
What do you think? Are you an individual or company impacted by this potential closure of Bee Line Route 76? Leave a comment below.
Hmmm. 225 passengers / day – making 1 trip each; Assume 260 working days. 225 x 260 = 58,500 trips / year. At a service cost of $242,114 / year, that means each trip should cost a bit more than $4. Somebody wants to shut it down? Why don’t they try charging a full-cost recovery price?
Full-cost recovery pricing misses the point of public transportation. Like any networked service, e.g. telephony or electrification, the economies of scale achieved on high-traffic bus routes should subsidize service in less densely populated areas.
Low ridership alone shouldn’t drive the decision; its impact should. This route is Rye’s only public connection to shopping and Metro North, and shutting it down disproportionately affects the elderly and the poor. Elders who can no longer drive won’t be able to get out and, critically, home health care workers who serve them won’t be able to get in.
Anybody know the current fare?
Looks like the cash cost s $2.25 which, with the previously given volume and cost info makes the subsidy out to about $110,489/year.
https://www.westchestergov.com/beelinebus/web_pdf_documents/web_new_6_28_09_full_fares.pdf
And I understand the social policies associated with susidizing the cost of public transportation, but wouldn’t a fully-recovered service (maybe at lower usage, but I assumed no weekend travel) be better than no service at all?
“..shutting it down disproportionately affects the elderly and the poor. Elders who can no longer drive won’t be able to get out and, critically, home health care workers who serve them won’t be able to get in.”
Well said Tom. This is very serious business and something the pols may screw up. Who could imaging a critical solo route like this could be marked for a budget cut while an 8 percent county tax increase is headed straight at Rye?