By Harold Egeln
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

BAY RIDGE — If the proposed mass transit cuts go into effect this spring, riders waiting for the B23, B25, B37, B39, B51 and B75 buses, and the Z train will have a very long wait. They will never come.

Proposed cuts by the Metropolitan Transit Authority on service elimination, cutting weekend and overnight service on several bus lines and raising fares were called “unacceptable� by Borough President Marty Markowitz and other officials at a press conference in November.

Since then, neighborhood protest rallies, petitions and letter-writing drives, plus pressure by City Council members, have ballooned from Williamsburg and DUMBO to Bay Ridge and East New York. And that all will be voiced at the MTA’s Brooklyn public hearing at the Brooklyn Marriott on the evening of Jan. 28.

In Bay Ridge, “Save the B37 Third Avenue Bus� is among the demands on a petition circulated by Councilman Vincent Gentile and other lawmakers asking the MTA to drop plans to cut bus service in Bay Ridge along a bustling commercial strip. More than 1,000 signatures were collected on Gentile’s petition against the proposed complete elimination of the route between Shore Road in Bay Ridge and Court Street in Brooklyn Heights, as well as other service cuts.

“When I talk to residents about the cuts, they are clearly desperate to save the transportation services they depend on for work, school and errands,� said Gentile. “The MTA’s plans would cut off thousands of people in south Brooklyn alone from crucial parts of their lives, like family, work and doctors.�

Under the MTA’s plan to help it meet its $1.2 billion budget shortfall, five other bus routes face the axe besides the B37. These include the B23 in Borough Park; the B25 between Fulton Landing and Broadway Junction in East New York; the B39 between Williamsburg Bridge Plaza and Allen Street in Manhattan; the B51 from Smith and Fulton streets to City Hall-Park Row; and the B75 along Court, Smith and Ninth streets between Windsor Terrace and Jay and Sands streets.

Other Brooklyn service changes include ending weekend service on the X27 and X28 express bus routes, and more cutbacks on the B2, B4, B7, B16, B24, B48, B57, B65, B69, B71 and B75. These include shorten early morning and late evening service on some routes, as well as the end of late-night service on many others.

Gentile will present his petitions and his own letter at the MTA’s public hearing on Jan. 28. He will be joined by others waging protest campaigns, such as Council Members Letitia James and David Yassky, over the B25. They say that this bus is usually packed, contrary to the MTA’s “underused line� claim, and that its demise would leave DUMBO and Fulton Landing without bus service.

In 2007 the DUMBO Improvement District urged the MTA to extend the B25 along Front and York streets to connect with the F train at Bridge Street. The MTA rejected the idea, saying it could not afford the extension.

MTA Urges Public to Speak Out

On Wednesday, Jan. 28, bus and subway riders will get a chance to voice their views at the MTA’s Brooklyn public hearing from 6 to 9 p.m. at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge. MTA officials said that they would prefer to avoid taking drastic measures, asking lawmakers to endorse a state commission report to rescue the agency with state funding.

Unless Albany rescues the MTA, its proposed cuts would go into effect by April. A few weeks ago the Ravitch Commission on MTA Financing, headed by former MTA Chair Richard Ravitch, released its recommendations to prevent the worst-case transit scenarios mapped in the MTA’s “doomsday plan.�

Recommendations include bridge tolls on the now free East River bridges, improved bus service, expanded express bus service, some service reductions, inflation-adjusted fare increases, and creation of a Regional Bus Authority.

“We hope that elected officials throughout the state will support the Ravitch Commission’s recommendations giving financial stability to the MTA, so that we can avoid implementing some of the difficult measures in this budget proposal,� said a statement by MTA officials.

Fare Hikes

Another concern is fare hikes. The base fare would jump to $2.50. Unlimited 30-day cards would go from $81 to $105, and unlimited seven-day cards from $25 to $32. The “high-ceiling rates,� said MTA spokesperson Jeremy Soffin, give the MTA some breathing space to someday bring them down.

“Riders can end up paying much more for a lot less service,� said Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers’ Campaign, a nonprofit public transit advocacy group.

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