Following a series of service changes and cuts by the MTA, which is looking to bridge an $800 million budget gap, some commuters in the northwest Bronx say they are being inconvenienced and overcharged. Others say the changes have largely not affected them.

As part of the MTA’s reduction plan, the Bx20 bus line has discontinued service during off-peak hours and the Bx34 will no longer offer weekend or overnight service.

Previously, Riverdale commuters traveling to the A-train during off-peak hours would normally pay one fare to ride the Bx20 and transfer freely to the A. Now, riders must take the Bx10, transfer to the Bx7 and then pay an additional fare to transfer onto the A train, essentially doubling the cost of their commute.

Also, Woodlawn commuters, who paid only one fare to ride the Bx34 to the 4-train now must take the Bx31 to the Bx16 and then pay another transfer fare to ride the 4-train. In addition, there will no longer be any overnight or weekend service to the 4-train from the Bx34.

“I can’t get to the hospital on the weekends [from the Bx34], I have to spend extra money on a cab that I can’t really afford,” said Woodlawn resident Elizabeth Plannas of her weekend commute to work as a nurse at Montefiore Medical Center.

In response to the extra fare burden, Bronx Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz wrote a letter to the MTA with his own proposed solution. He asked the MTA to issue electronic paper transfer cards for bus riders so they can transfer to the A and 4-trains free of charge.

“It was bad enough that the MTA board — whose members are appointed by Governor Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg — unanimously voted to curtail service on the Bronx 20 and 34 buses,” Dinowitz.said in a statement. “It’s outrageous that they have added insult to injury by doubling the transportation costs of some commuters. This must change.”

An MTA spokesperson said the agency would respond to Dinowitz’s office sometime this week. The MTA says the budget cuts will save the agency $100 million by the end of the year.
Other commuters who spoke to the Norwood News seemed to be unperturbed by the cutbacks and service reductions.

Younger riders said they were oblivious to any cutbacks now that school is out for the summer. Some mothers agreed, but worried how they will be affected once school begins again in September.

Others said they felt the effects of the cutbacks, although minimally, on the weekends, adding that they would rather pay extra for a cab than to deal with the added transfers and extended commute time.

Prior to the June 27 MTA changes, four Manhattan-bound subway station booths and kiosks were closed in the Bronx.

Since mid-May, station booths at the 149th Street-3rd Avenue and 174th Street stops of the 2 and 5 trains, the 161st Street-Yankee Stadium stop of the 4, B and D trains, and the East 149th Street stop of the 6 train have all been closed.

The MTA is holding public hearings on the proposed permanent elimination or reduction in hours of all four of these station booths and kiosks. One hearing is at Hostos Community College on Wednesday, July 14. [See Neighborhood Notes for details.] On Tuesday morning, an alliance of transit workers, unions and local residents launched a campaign called “Take Back Our Transit System, Fire the MTA!” to protest what they consider the hasty and inconvenient scheduling of the hearings.

“The campaign is demanding these hearings be cancelled and rescheduled with adequate time, more convenient locations and that notices be posted on all parts of the transit system,” the campaign said in a statement.