Talks of seceding from the MTA resurfaced last week in the wake of local opposition to the proposed service cuts, which would see trains reach Greenport only on summer weekends, leaving hundreds of local commuters scrambling for a Plan B.

MTA president Helena Williams said that the transit authority would consider turning over a portion of the Long Island Rail Road to an East End transit council.

The MTA's proposed cuts come during the agency's attempts to close a nearly $400 million budget shortfall, and just months after the state approved an MTA payroll tax on all businesses, government agencies and schools in an effort to close the MTA's original $1.2 billion budget gap. The proposal attracted immediate protests from local lawmakers and residents.

Mr. Romaine said the East End pays an estimated $60 million to the MTA in taxes annually, which does not include the Suffolk County bus system. An East End transportation system integrating rail and bus service would cost about $45 million to run annually, according to a study conducted by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center. That system, if approved, would integrate local shuttle trains on the South Fork with connecting bus service and replace most of the current transit services.

Volpe, a federally funded intermodal transportation research firm in Massachusetts, found the system could cost up to $150 million to get up and running. That money would most likely be funded through state and county taxes and through federal and state grants.

Mr. Romaine said that the region's existing railways were deeded to the MTA as a public right of way, possibly to be given to a new transit authority at no cost.

The legislator also pointed to the MTA's high overhead costs, due largely to its employee and administrator payrolls, as further reason why a local system could be cheaper.

"We would have a very compressed system, a very simple system," he said.

Mr. Thiele said that while the MTA concentrates on getting people in and out of Manhattan every morning, that focus does not necessarily reflect the commuting patterns of people on the East End, many of whom work in western Suffolk and Nassau County.

"It's a different market and a different purpose," he said. "I don't think the MTA has ever embraced that."

The creation of a separate transit authority would have to come from legislation in Albany. Mr. Thiele said he had introduced a similar bill in the assembly in 2004; it gained little support.

He said that the next step would be a meeting between local officials and the MTA, to be scheduled for sometime in March.

Mr. Thiele said that he, State Assemblyman Marc Alessi (D-Wading River) and state Senator Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) would be responsible for crafting legislation for the state Senate and Assembly.

Mr. Alessi was more cautious in his response as to whether or not seceding from the MTA was possible. He said it was too early to determine whether or not a regional transit authority would pass in the legislature. But he said fighting for increased transportation service, or at least abolishing the payroll tax on the North Fork, was currently his No. 1 priority in Albany.

"The conversation is pretty fluid," he said.

Although creating an East End transit authority would be a huge undertaking, few people seemed to have expressed any opposition to the plan.

Calverton resident Sal Mastropaolo said that he would be in favor of a regional transit authority if it did not increases taxes, but cited dysfunction in Albany as a reason to doubt that it will ever happen.

"I think there are a enough politicians in Albany that would not let it happen," he said.

Vince Taldone, who serves on the board of the Five Town Rural Transit Inc., a nonprofit group dedicated to the research and development of improved public transportation on the East End, said that seceding from the MTA is the only way to provide a comprehensive public transportation plan in the five East End towns: Riverhead, Southold, Shelter Island, Southampton and East Hampton.

He said that in 1976, Cape Cod, Mass., created its own regional transit authority and has since successfully provided public transit to its residents. He said that a similar system could work on the East End because the two areas are similar in geography and in population.

"We're not suggesting something that is radically new," he said

vchinese@timesreview.com

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4 comments found

Rail transportation : 2/7/2010
If ever we needed rail transportation out here, it is
now. Instead the LIRR keeps closing stations and
cutting services. Europe is way ahead of on this one.

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Rail transportation : 2/7/2010

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: 2/5/2010
This is exactly what Riverhead's downtown revitalization project needs; an accessible transit option that links it at the hip to the restaurant and bar scene in Greenport. A regional light rail that ran from Riverhead to Greenport would not only be a huge windfall for the downtown areas, but would greatly alleviate problems such as DUI and summer traffic on route 58.

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convert LIRR track for bikes : 2/4/2010
Much simpler, cheaper, healthier and realistic would be to convert the LIRR track on which service will be discontinued to a much needed bike path. For example, from Ronkokoma east. Thousands of bikers from western Suffolk, Nassau and NYC would jump at the chance to take the LIRR to Ronkokoma and then bike east, bringing much needed tourism. And, as the photo accompanying the article well illustrates, the bike ride would be very scenic, and inns and restaurants abundant. There is not a single decent dedicated bike path on the whole of Long Island, and this could be one of the best in the country.

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