Area legislators are urging the Massachusetts Port Authority to reconsider its decision to end the Logan Express bus service from Peabody on April 30, arguing the move is unfair to North Shore travelers.

''When it comes to Massport, the North Shore plays second fiddle to everyone else in the state," said Senate majority leader Frederick E. Berry, a Peabody Democrat.

''We pay $3 to travel over the Tobin Bridge. And now they've decided to stop the only bus service that gets people to Logan."

Said state Representative Theodore Speliotis, ''In a time of rising gas prices, and concern about parking and traffic at Logan, we ought to be expanding public transportation, not taking it away."

Berry, Speliotis, and state Representative Joyce Spiliotis, a Democrat who also represents Peabody, sent a letter last week to Massport's board of directors, calling the board's Jan. 19 vote to stop the service ''abrupt" and unfair to local commuters.

''Our constituents continually question the fairness of the financial hardships they endure in relation to commuters from the South Shore," the letter states.

South Shore commuters drive free to Boston on Interstate 93, a state highway not controlled by Massport. But North Shore commuters must pay $3 to drive over the Tobin Bridge, the most direct route to Boston, which is operated by Massport.

In their letter, legislators suggest three options Massport should consider to save the service: run buses every hour, instead of every half-hour; use smaller buses; and advertise the service better. Massport could also add a Peabody stop to bus service operated by C & J Trailways that now stops in Newburyport and Portsmouth, N.H., the letter states.

A Massport spokeswoman said there is little chance the board will change its mind. ''The decision was not abrupt," said Danny Levy. ''We're giving our commuters sufficient notice."

Massport is cutting the service from Route 1 due to low ridership and revenues.

The bus service, which began the week of Sept. 11, 2001, got off to a slow start. Since then, Massport has lost $5 million on the Peabody-to-Logan run.

In 2005, the route lost $1.5 million, and carried 87,600 passengers, which is anywhere from one-third to one-fifth fewer passengers than the Logan Express buses running from Braintree, Framingham, and Woburn, the agency said.

''The ridership just wasn't there," Levy said. ''We noticed overlap with our Woburn route as well, which probably contributed to the low numbers."

Levy said the agency already has tried some of the options suggested by legislators. Buses originally ran on the hour, and were increased to a half-hour schedule to boost ridership. The Peabody service was promoted along with the three other Logan Express routes in newspaper and radio ads, she said.

In May, C & J Trailways will add two more daily routes from Portsmouth and Newburyport to Logan, but the bus won't stop in Peabody, Levy said. ''There are alternatives, including people going to Woburn. We encourage them to use it."