NEW YORK --

The head of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the proposal workers rejected on Friday is the last they will see.

Peter Kalikow said, "There is no more."

He said the MTA's latest offer is "the best" the public transit system can produce. Kalikow said no more talks are scheduled.

The union called a selective strike on Friday against two private bus lines, but it apparently won't start until Monday.

The general strike deadline has been pushed back until early Tuesday.

The president of the Transport Workers Union Local 100 said employees "wanted to get a deal done" and still do.

The union representing 33,000 workers called a selective strike against two private bus lines Friday, putting off a crippling citywide shutdown, as it rejected what the system later said was its final offer.

The union reportedly planned to extend the strike to subways if there's no contract agreement with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority by 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's latest offer included an increase in raises -- 9 percent over three years. The union is demanding 8 percent hikes in each of the three years.

The public transit system carries nearly 7 million people daily on subways and buses.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said a subway strike next week "would be a lot worse" than if the workers had walked out just after midnight Friday morning, as they threatened to do.

With next week being the week before Christmas, Bloomberg said a strike would be "damaging to a lot of people."

Bloomberg is ready to order a drastic emergency plan aimed at avoiding gridlock and keeping streets open for emergency vehicles if there is a strike, which would be devastating in a city where millions of people rely on buses and subways to get around.

Bloomberg is advising people to be creative in getting around New York City if there is a subway and bus strike.

Bloomberg said people should make plans to bicycle, walk or stay with a friend.

Estimates are that a strike would cost the city hundreds of millions per day in overtime and lost business and productivity.

"The best quick comparison is a blizzard or a hurricane when the city shuts down for that reason," said Professor Dan O'Flaherty, of Columbia University.

O'Flaherty said halting the transit system, in effect, shuts down business, but the shorter the strike, the easier it is for the city to bounce back.

"If it's only a few days, much of it will probably be made up later," O'Flaherty said. "People will work harder."

Small businesses, such as restaurants and grocery stores, will have more to worry about. The city's contingency plan won't allow commercial vehicles into Manhattan south of 96th Street from 5 to 11 a.m., which is exactly when one deli has food delivered.

"We have to get fresh fruit every morning," said Helen Paik, the deli's manager. "Milk, eggs -- if we don't have eggs, how can we make egg sandwiches?"

Paik said she hasn't come up with a backup plan yet, but larger businesses, like UPS, certainly do. The shipping company has already changed flight times so that packages can be sent to the Midtown sorting center before 5 a.m.

At Baldor Specialty Foods, a distributor of produce for hospitals and restaurants in the city, they are already changing delivery times to clients and finding transportation for their employees.

"We're looking at renting vans, centralizing pickup locations to be able to get employees here, offering to pay taxi fares for those who are alone," said Micheal Muzyk, president.

Many companies are encouraging employees to telecommute or work out of offices outside the city in the event of a strike.

Some are arranging buses and ferries for their employees.

One advertising agency provided its workers with vouchers to buy new sneakers.