Rye’s Route 76 Bus Service Reduced

Effective yesterday, Westchester County has reduced service on the Route 76 bus line that runs through Rye City. Residents use the service to get the the Metro North station and employees use the bus to get to private homes and various clubs and facilities on Milton Point. Last year the county attempted to eliminate the line entirely.

In a letter to the editor, one Forrest Avenue resident voices concern about how detrimental the cuts will be. What do you think? Leave a comment below.

To the Editor:

I am a new resident of Milton Point in Rye, and have counted on the Route 76 commuter service.  I want to voice my and my neighbor’s objection to the decision to cancel the Route 76 commuter service.  The timing, at the beginning of the fall and winter season, is especially harmful.

I, and my fellow commuters, will now be required to find alternative transportation to the Rye train station.  Presumably, this will mean increased cars on the road and increased vying for the already overcrowded commuter parking at the station.  This is bad for the community and bad for Rye.

I also understand that the decision is causing a difficult burden on working class people.  Now, domestic workers, namely nannies, won’t be able to get to work in time for the day, causing residents to eliminate those jobs or find alternative childcare solutions.  This is not what the county should be doing in these difficult times.

Public bus routes are an important obligation of county government.  Since they have the Route 76 bus, they should make it usable.  If elimination of times during the day is a necessary cost-saving action, the cut should be from the middle of the day, when the riders can still use the bus by altering their schedule forward or backward, it should not come from both the first and last buses, effectively making the Route 76 bus unusable for many Rye residents and workers.

Please consider reviving the commuter routes.

Chester Rothstein
Forest Avenue