MTA Budget Cuts on the B31

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Thanks Greg for sending this in!

The MTA unveiled its 2009 budget at a board meeting Thursday in Midtown.

The so-called “Doomsday Budget” will hit riders with a steep fare hike and major service cuts.

Including:

Discontinuing overnight service on the B31. Ouch!

  • Increase express bus fares to $7.50 from $5.
  • Raise the Access-A-Ride fare to make it twice the subway base fare – from $2 to $4, based on current prices.
  • Eliminate the station customer assistants, who help riders outside toll booths. This would cut 596 positions.
  • Close 29 staffed booths in stations that have more than one full-time booth. Reduce staffing to part-time in 13 additional booths.
  • Impose tighter controls on E-ZPass account balances on MTA bridges and tunnels. That will result in more drivers turned away at toll gates and longer lines.

27 comments to MTA Budget Cuts on the B31

  • anon

    great! the 31 is the worst bus service ever it seems like they only have 2 buses that run down here as it it… i can’t imagine what it’s going to be like now

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  • Sexton Hardcastle

    How the hell am I supposed to get home from the city late at night if I can’t take the god damn bus. Well looks like its back to drunk driving, hope your happy MTA!

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    • GB Mom

      if you deliberately choose to drive drunk to save $9.00 on a cab (which I am sure you spend way more on drinking anyway the way you just made it sound) please do us all a favor and make sure its your own family you kill when you get into an accident, not any responsible persons, which is usually the case. I pray to God you were just kidding, because I hope you never have to know whats it like to lose a loved one to a drunk driver.

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  • Sexton Hardcastle

    There is a car service right next to the Kings Highway station.

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  • Natascha

    When will this begin? I don’t want it to be a surprise after a long night out in the city and having to figure out how to get back home.

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  • Anonymous

    i guess thats what happens when they have to replace the bus shelters every month

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    • AnonAnon

      I also heard that any bus shelter that is damaged will not be repaired or replaced, so keep your eyes open. It would suck standing on the Ave from midnite til morning in the rain!

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  • I started coming home later, the car service next door to the Kings Highway station wants $9 to go to Gerritsen Beach. The B31 is horrible at night, good thing the station is right across from the bus stop!

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  • anonymous

    O.K. since when did Gerritsen Beach residents stop paying taxes to the city for services???

    Ok and when do we start protesting and signing petitions, NO OTHER neighborhood would put up with there ONLY public transportation being ( would they do this in ANY other neighborhood except this one ) suspended at night???

    First the money to the Volunteers are cut now this.

    OH and I refuse to use Car Service maybe we should get some dollar vans down here at least they run 24 hrs a day

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  • Anonymous

    even the black neighborhoods have buses

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  • anon

    YEP THEY DO AND THEY FIGHT ON THE BUS ROB PEOPLE ON THE BUS, SHOT EACH OTHER BEAT UP THE BUS DRIVER AND THEY WILL PROBABLY GET AN EXTRA BUS…BECAUSE THEY WILL CLAIM THAT JUST BECAUSE THERE BLACK THAT THEY ARE BEING TREATED BAD.

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  • Offramp

    Not for nothing, but whats the difference? Everyone like me who takes the 31 knows that if you miss it, you’re better off walking or just staying home. By the time the other bus comes you’re already late.

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  • Anonymous

    If you have to rely on the B31 after midnight you were already in trouble. I worked 4-midnight for a while in Manhattan. I had to wait for close to an hour for the B31. I started driving instead. Next thing Bloomberg wants to do is put a toll on the Brooklyn Bridge. I am sure the B3 will continue to run. Who wants to walk over a mile at 2 in the morning? GB people pay a lot of taxes. We need to protest. Where is the white Al Sharpton?

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  • guess I’ll be needing a cheap foldable electric/gas scooter to get from Kings Highway to home!

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  • neighbor

    I remember Marty Golden telling the people of Gerritsen Beach that we would get improved bus service. This was when he was running for office. He stood at the bus stop across from the train station, shaking hands. We had been waiting for a bus for more than 25 minutes at 5 o’clock in the evening on a weekday.

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    • Anon-Anon

      This was when he was running for office

      Key word….”was”. Politicians promise a whole lot when they are running for office don’t they?

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  • Marine Park Commuter

    Neighbor, you are absolutely correct! Call Marty Golden’s office at 718-627-3659 or 718-233-2537 or e-mail golden@senate.state.ny.us and demand that the B31 service is not cut. The B2 does not run between midnight and 5AM, so what are people supposed to do, even if we don’t live all the way down Gerritsen? Thanks to GerritsenBeach.net for keeping us informed – Marty’s website has no info on this issue!!!!

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  • mike

    Thanks to everybody who fought against congestion pricing — you are now responsible for even larger operating and capital deficits, and thus, these cuts.

    So what’s your plan?

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  • AnonAnon

    With all the new budget cuts, I think we better make alternate plans. How about a bike rack, skates, skis? Keep your options open and say bye bye B31.

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  • anon

    WHO THE HELL CAN AFFORD CAR SERVICE; THEY RAISE THE RATES AFTER MIDNITE……THE BUS IS FREE WHEN U PAY FOR THE TRAIN!!!!! WAKE UP……WE ARE BEING SCREWED

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  • anon

    WHO THE HELL CAN AFFORD CAR SERVICE; THEY RAISE THE RATES AFTER MIDNITE……THE BUS IS FREE WHEN U PAY FOR THE TRAIN!!!!! WAKE UP……WE ARE BEING SCREWED

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