NEW YORK - A state commission's report on new ways to fund the struggling Metropolitan Transportation Authority is expected to be released this week and could have major implications for bus riders on Long Island, transit sources said yesterday.

The report by the Ravitch Commission, headed by former MTA chief Richard Ravitch, could call for the MTA to take over Nassau's Long Island Bus and the Suffolk County Transit, the sources said. Such a plan would entail creating a regional bus authority enveloping both systems, as well as Westchester's Bee-Line bus system.

Kate Slevin, executive director of the nonprofit Tri State Transportation campaign, applauded the idea, in part because "it would end this battle" between Nassau County and the MTA over funding of Long Island Bus, which is funded by both.

Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi has long urged the MTA to take over Long Island Bus, even as the MTA has called on Nassau to step up its funding of the system.

A Suozzi spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.

Gov. David A. Paterson created the Ravitch Commission in February and charged it with brainstorming new funding sources for the cash-strapped MTA, which faces a $1.2 billion budget shortfall next year.

To help fill the hole, the MTA last month proposed a 2009 operating budget that includes a 23-percent increase in revenue from passenger fares.