Bee Line Buses Should Honor Metro North Commuter Tickets Greenburgh, NY, September 20, 2010 -- Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner is urgingWestchester County, Bee Line Bus Line, and Metro North to improve coordination in the event of a Metro North shutdown. Today, Metro North was forced to close down Grand Central Station to commuters for a number of hours due to a fire underneath a bridge.
Among action steps Metro North and Westchester County should take: the Bee line buses should honor metro North commuter tickets if there is a shutdown of commuter train station due to an emergency. Bee Line could be reimbursed for the additional service provided to Metro North commuters by Metro North later on. Feiner said that he will urge Westchester/Metro North to meet shortly to work out an agreement so this could happen.
The county told commuters that metro north cards would not be honored.
Westchester and NYC should use Grand Central station shutdowns, like the one we experienced today, to test out evacuation procedures. If people had to leave the city in an emergency and did not have train service - can transitofficials quickly increase the number of buses that serve Westchester commuters? How quickly can Bee Line increase its fleet of buses? How many buses can be added to the fleet in a short period of time?
Today's incident highlights the value of saving the Westchester-NYC bus line, which was threatened with elimination earlier this year. The Westchester-NYC bus service provides the county/region with the infrastructure to provide commuters with a way out of NYC in the event of an emergency. If the bus is ever eliminated - we will be much less prepared.
Paul Feiner is Greenburgh Town Supervisor.
