By:Andrew Coen
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is contemplating the elimination of weekend service on the Far Rockaway branch beginning in 2006, as part of $467 million in cuts the agency is considering to close a deficit of more than $1 billion.
The cuts to weekend service on the Far Rockaway branch would mean no service on Saturdays and Sundays at the Five Towns stations - in Inwood, Lawrence, Cedarhurst, Woodmere and Hewlett - along with the Far Rockaway, Gibson and Valley Stream stops. Weekend stops at Valley Stream on the Long Beach branch would still be made. The proposed cuts would also eliminate the West Hempstead, Oyster Bay and Greenport/Ronkonkoma branches in 2005. The MTA's plan to close the budget gap would also call for a 5 percent fare hike for all commuters.
MTA spokesman Brian Dolan said that the reason weekend service on the Far Rockaway branch is being considered for elimination is that those train stations draw very few commuters on weekends, as well as on weekdays. "It's a numbers game," Dolan said. "There is less travel on the Far Rockaway branch than other branches. It is action we hope to not have to take."
According to Dolan, the MTA will make a decision on the 2005 budget after hearings are held next month, and will decide on the 2006 budget sometime next year.
The proposed cuts to weekend service in the Five Towns would mean that the closest LIRR station for area residents would be on Sunrise Highway in Lynbrook, which is about six miles from the Inwood station and nearly three miles from the Hewlett station.
This would make life much more inconvenient for Woodmere resident Mir Hameed, who walks to the Woodmere station on Fridays to catch a train in order to visit his family in Pennsylvania, and returns on Sundays. "That would increase expenses, because I'd have to take a cab or get a family member to take me [from Lynbrook]," Hameed said. "That would be bad news."
The elimination of weekend service would also affect Brooklyn residents Cheryl Smith and Kate Neol, who take the railroad to baby-sitting jobs in Woodmere. "We don't make enough money for a cab," said Neol. "Thinking about it is terrible."
The cancellation of weekend service would also affect local cab drivers like Naftalid Wischenka of Woodmere Taxi, who said that many housekeepers without cars who go to the city on weekends take cabs to the Woodmere station. "If we have to take them to Lynbrook or another station, it would cost them more," said Wischenka, who added that it would cost $9 to take a cab from Woodmere to the Lynbrook station versus $4 to go to the Woodmere station.
"The railroad is so important to everybody out here, and if they get rid of it on the weekends, it's going to create a lot of problems and make it very difficult for people," said Woodmere resident Ruth Platzko as she was getting off the train last Friday evening.
According to Dolan, in order to avoid cuts, revenues - and ridership - need to increase. In addition, more tax reserves need to be found and a new funding stream must be identified. "It's early in the process," he said, "but it's the MTA desire to alert people of its financial situation."
State Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), a member of the MTA's Capital Improvement Review Board, said, "While I appreciate the MTA's desire to preserve and enhance our mass-transportation system, they have proposed a 'Cadillac' plan, without any recognition of the costs involved or means of funding it. With blatant and growing structural deficits, vast revenue deficiencies and service reductions, this fundamentally flawed plan is both unsustainable and ill-considered."
Skelos went on to say, "[The MTA] must go back to the drawing board, re-focus their efforts and develop a plan that addresses critical needs, preserves comprehensive service, protects riders from higher fares and makes sense."
Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise, who saw renovations recently completed to the local station, was upset about the possibility of weekend service being cut for his residents. "It would be devastating for us," he said. "I know [the MTA] has their budget problems, but I hope that they explore other areas."
Nassau County Legislator Jeff Toback (D-Oceanside), whose district includes the Five Towns, said that he would rather see the elimination of weekend service for the branch than see increased fare hikes. "If the ridership numbers that the MTA reports for the Far Rockaway branch are accurate, then looking to cut service rather than raise fares may be a palatable solution," said Toback. "I don't like to see services cut, but if people have to drive to Lynbrook to use the train on weekends, then that is a better solution than raising fares."
Other possible cuts for 2005 include canceling or combining low-ridership trains, closing some ticket windows, reducing by 25 percent emergency bus service provided when trains become unavailable and reducing train car and station cleanings.
Other potential 2006 cuts include closing all but 10 ticket windows and eliminating 30 trains during rush-hour and non-rush-hour periods on weekdays.
