Buffalo Rapid Transit Service Set to Resume With New Funding Plan
Erie County lawmakers Monday night agreed on a complicated funding package that ended a two-day shutdown of bus and rapid transit service in New York state’s second-largest city.
Transit officials said buses and light rail rapid transit cars were expected to resume normal operations this morning.
The four-year plan, which would mean $11.7 million in total aid in its first year, was approved by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority’s Board of Commissioners after a private meeting that lasted more than an hour.
Erie County Executive Dennis Gorski said the plan included an “infusion” of $1 million from the city government, $750,000 from New York state from a gross receipt tax, and the rest from part of the county’s 8% sales tax and a “rearrangement of certain other monies for the NFTA so they could be stable.”
Unlike an earlier arrangement that was considered but not acted upon by the NFTA, the plan approved Monday did not include severe service cuts nor the layoffs of about 125 employees.
There was no immediate indication that the package would include a fare increase that had been discussed earlier.
On Monday, the second day of the transit shutdown, 135,000 commuters got around on bicycles, car pools and their feet.
The biggest problems were reported in city high schools, where absentee rates soared to near 60%.
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