Mayor: Bus service to remain intact

MIDDLETOWN » Cuts to the Middletown Area Transit bus schedule will not happen as planned, Mayor Daniel Drew announced Thursday.

“H, I, M-Link, and Night Owl services will continue as normal while MAT, the City of Middletown, our legislative delegation, and CT DOT are working together on transition planning,” Drew said. “Should there be a need for service reductions in the future, hearings to that effect will be properly noticed and designed to minimize impact on riders.”

Middletown Area Transit, which has stops at shopping plazas and other locations throughout the city, announced in May that reductions in state Department of Transportation operating funds have made necessary the termination of evening ser-

vices as well as a elimination of 45 percent of Meriden-to-Middletown routes by July 1.

During a recent standing-room-only public hearing at MAT’s Main Street terminal, attended by dozens of bus riders, community stakeholders, residents and legislators, those who use the service made impassioned pleas to the board of directors to find a way to keep the buses running at current levels.

Earlier this week, the city filed a civil rights complaint with the Federal Highway Administration, charging that considerable cuts to the city’s public transit bus routes violate civil rights law.

In his filing with the Office of Civil Rights, Middletown General Counsel Brig Smith said that trims to Middletown Area Transit bus stops affect citizens who ride at night as well as individuals with disabilities.

MIDDLETOWN PRESS FILE PHOTO