MTA may eliminate Rockville Centre loop bus

The N14 North Rockville Centre Loop bus route could be on the chopping block, if the MTA is unable to resolve a funding dispute with Nassau County.

The MTA board is set to vote in April on a plan to axe 25 of its 48 Long Island bus routes — with the N14 among them — if the cash-strapped county doesn’t increase its current annual contribution of $9.1 million to the bus system’s $141 million annual budget. (By comparison, Suffolk County pays nearly half — $24 million — toward its bus system’s budget.)

MTA officials estimate the service cuts, which would strand 16,000 riders, including many who are disabled, would save $12.2 million a year. The proposed service reductions would leave a number of communities without bus service at all. More than 200 L.I. Bus employees would lose their jobs.

Statistics published by the MTA show that the N14 bus, which currently operates during weekday peak periods, carries an average of 125 passengers. The total cost per passenger, the MTA says, is $15.02 and direct operating expenses for each passenger is $9.69. Dropping the route would result in a net annual savings of $264,000. The MTA document notes that “there would be no proximate alternate” if the loop route to the Rockville Centre Long Island Railroad station is dropped.

MTA Chairman Jay Walder has said that Nassau County must give L.I. Bus the same support Suffolk and Westchester counties give their bus services.

Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said that with a $176 million budget deficit of its own, the county does not have the $24 million necessary to fund the bus service. He said the county is looking into hiring a private operator to run its buses (which was taken over by the MTA 38 years ago.)

The public hearing on the proposed cuts is scheduled for March 23 at Hofstra University — which is currently served by the N46 and N47 routes.

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