With the passage of the Nassau County Budget last Friday, Long Island Bus lost $1.4 million, or 13% of its annual budget, Newsday reports. An earlier draft of the budget called for a $2.8 million cut to the agency, which is owned by Nassau County and operated by the MTA. Local organizations that have been lobbying around the issue, including the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Long Island Progressive Coalition and Vision Long Island warn that service cuts and fair increases are on the way if alternative funding sources are not found.

Long Island Bus, which was the first transit system on the East Coast to run entirely on compressed natural gas rather than diesel, saw a record-breaking ridership of 32.6 million people last year. Battles over funding between Nassau County, the MTA and the state of funding for LI Bus have been going on for several years, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign noted in a press release, and funding has stagnated at 1999 levels. Despite its low funding, LI Bus has remained an affordable service with a base fare of $2.25. According to the latest census data, Long Island Bus riders make $62,000 less than Long Island Rail Road riders in annual income.