Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - An Erie County lawmaker is asking the NFTA for answers as to why recent bus routes were cut. He says this will have an impact on the community.
Howard Johnson says the cuts are especially egregious in light of the hundreds of millions the NFTA received in stimulus and American Rescue Plan funds. "The NFTA they received the ARP funding, Cares Act funding, they were $11 million flush this quarter, with positive variance money" says Johnson.
Johnson answers the NFTA's claims of a lack of drivers. "What I would say is not to drivers, given the pay raise at the right pay raises to the drivers. They started $16 an hour, when you look at what the yellow bus services offering without tickets of First Student, they're offering $22 an hour, you would think that the NFTA would want to, you know, attract more drivers by lifting the salaries of those drivers up like that, I think that's one of the things I think we need some answers there," says Johnson.
Johnson told the story of one Buffalo school student. "She's a student who who is consistently late to school, she's because of the reduction in bus services. So she's consistently late for she's on a what they call a an attendance program, where she has to make up the time that she's late because of the buses," says Johnson. He says a worker has told him about the drawbacks of the route cuts. "We have a worker, he gets off work at 4:10, catching the route 13 home, and sometimes he waits an additional 20 to 40 minutes. We noticed that there's a whole bunch of folks going to work late," adds Johnson.
Johnson is asking executive director Kimberley Minkel to an economic development committee meeting next week for answers.
