Some commuters traveling to jobs in the suburbs will no longer be able to count on a bus for work, and up to 170 positions will be eliminated after the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority voted Monday to "right size" the local transit system and fill a $14.7 million deficit.

Unless there is an unexpected restoration of at least some operating assistance significantly reduced by Albany over the past few years, passengers of Metro Bus and Rail will encounter dramatically reduced service when the new $197.9 million budget takes effect April 1.

Some rural routes will be eliminated altogether, some suburban and even some city runs will be adversely affected, and subway service will end at 8 p.m. most Sundays.

But while the NFTA opted against hiking the $1.75 basic fare in favor of the service reductions, the move did not come without opposition. The 7-3 vote reflected concern that transportation will be denied to the growing number of "reverse commuters" working in the suburbs.

Commissioner Howard A. Zemsky said a fare hike with more-limited service reductions offered a better option. Though the opposition was low-key, he was joined in voting against the budget by Commissioners Eunice A. Lewin and Adam W. Perry.

"What's worse? A 25-cent fare hike or people getting to their jobs?" Lewin asked after the meeting. "People will go on unemployment if they don't have a way of getting to work."

The meeting also attracted Mayor Byron W. Brown, who offered no concrete solutions or city money to address the transit system deficit but promised to lobby the State Legislature and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to restore the reduction in state operating assistance amounting to $4.3 million a year since the 2008-09 budget.

"As mayor, I would certainly hate to see reduced service, or see reduced jobs, or reduced NFTA police -- we know how important they are," Brown said. "I will assist in any way I can."

But the authority's long struggle to balance its books bumped up against a year-end deadline Monday, though NFTA officials stress they have until April 1 to restore routes or jobs if the efforts of some state legislators to restore operating assistance prove successful.

While Executive Director Kimberley A. Minkel reiterated that other moves such as seeking public-private partnerships and closing one bus garage loom as other "right sizing" plans, she acknowledged that the authority now has no choice but to shrink a system that had grown without the needed resources to support it.

"These are significant cuts," she said, acknowledging that reverse commuting to the suburbs will be adversely impacted because transit planners are now forced to retreat to the most heavily used routes in the urban core.

Commuters on dozens of routes will be affected.

As an example, all weekend service on the No. 2 Clinton route between downtown Buffalo and Clinton and Fernwood streets will be eliminated -- pending the results of public hearings and final decisions in February. Buffalo residents working at the Tonawanda Center of Industry, meanwhile, will see all service eliminated on the No. 11 Colvin route.

Another example is the No. 32 Amherst bus between Niagara and Amherst streets and the Thruway Mall, which will see reduced service frequency. Several buses serving college campuses like Buffalo State and Medaille will be eliminated, as will some service to Buffalo Niagara International Airport and to Buffalo Bills games.

Metro Rail, meanwhile, will eliminate all Sunday service after 8 p.m. except for some special events.

In all, 22 percent of bus system miles are slated for elimination, and riders will see hours reduced by 26 percent. The system will reduce its rides by almost 18 percent, translating into more than 3.7 million fewer rides per year out of a record 30 million projected for 2011-12.

Minkel explained while only 50 positions (including 20 transit police jobs) are slated for elimination April 1, the loss of service will precipitate a total reduction in the job force by about 170 positions.

The NFTA has asked the State Legislature and governor to restore $10 million in transit operating assistance, especially in light of recent funding of $250 million to the downstate Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Three members of the Assembly -- John D. Ceretto, R-Lewiston; Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, D-Buffalo; and Dennis H. Gabryszak, D-Cheektowaga -- have written to the governor seeking the money.

But while authority officials are not expecting it, acting Chairman Henry M. Sloma said Monday the money will be pursued, and some service and jobs still could be restored.

"We should have a Plan B if the money comes in," added Commissioner Vincent G. Crehan, saying the authority should be prepared.

Still, just about all authority commissioners acknowledge some other method of sustaining the operation is needed, especially because decreasing state aid and proceeds from the local mortgage recording tax paint a gloomy fiscal picture for the years ahead.

Minkel said commuters will have a chance in the new year to participate in required public hearings that will be held in various locations around Erie and Niagara counties.

NFTA spokesman C. Douglas Hartmayer emphasized that route eliminations and layoffs will result only after the public has weighed in on the draft plans unveiled Monday.

In other business, South Council Member Michael P. Kearns addressed commissioners on his proposal for the City of Buffalo to reacquire the waterfront properties owned by the NFTA and a predecessor authority since 1957.

"We've been talking about a lack of development on the waterfront for a long time," Kearns said. "This is a great opportunity to work together in a partnership."

He also said the city might prove a better entity to develop the land because of its borrowing ability and capacity. The NFTA discussed the matter in executive session but took no action.

Commissioners also approved a plan unveiled by General Counsel David J. State to increase slip rental prices at the Small Boat Harbor for various slip sizes. The overall increase is expected to be about 3 percent.

rmccarthy@buffnews.comnull